Ms Sorcha Tunney:

I will introduce my colleagues at the end of my presentation. We will introduce each other as we go along so that it is easy for people to follow.

On behalf of the Irish Coalition for Business and Human Rights, I thank the committee for the opportunity to present on this important issue. First, I want to say a few words about the coalition and then I will briefly outline why it is calling for legally binding business and human rights legislation.

The Coalition for Business and Human Rights is a new coalition. Our members consist of union representatives, development organisations, human rights defenders, and legal, women’s rights and environmental organisations. Some of our members include Oxfam Ireland, Front Line Defenders, the National Women’s Council and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. Joining us today is Trócaire and Christian Aid Ireland. Our members also include leading academic experts in the areas of human rights, law and business. The coalition is focused on progressing corporate accountability and Irish leadership in promoting business and human rights, both at home and abroad. We advocate to achieve Ireland’s support for the development of a UN binding treaty on business and human rights, with a gender and human rights defender perspective, and mandatory, gender responsive human rights and environmental due diligence legislation in Ireland and the EU.

Why do we need a binding UN treaty and mandatory due diligence legislation in Ireland? Companies have an enormous impact on people’s lives and the communities in which they operate. Sometimes the impact is positive - jobs are created, new technology improves lives and investment in the community translates into real benefits for those who live there - but sometimes the impact is negative. We have witnessed countless instances when corporations exploited weak and poorly enforced domestic regulation with devastating effects on people, communities, and their environment. The activities of corporations have contributed to climate breakdown, biodiversity collapse, the erosion of workers’ and trade union rights, forced and child labour, growing poverty, reprisals, and even the killing of environmental and human rights defenders.

There are few effective mechanisms to prevent corporate human rights abuses or to hold companies to account, and there is no global regulation in this area, despite the transnational nature of much business. The development of legally binding regulation at UN level to regulate transnational corporations and other business enterprises is in process but has not been supported by the European Union. To date, the response at international level has been to develop principles that allow companies to voluntarily implement these guidelines. However, there is growing global consensus that the voluntary approach has not worked. The lack of legally binding and enforceable standards for corporations with respect to human rights and the environment have allowed some corporations to continue to disregard appalling human rights abuses and environmental harm.