Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the guests for coming in today and for their continued advocacy on this very important issue. As other colleagues stated, this committee will not be found wanting in terms of trying to assist them as best we can to make sure that Ireland is in the vanguard when it comes to what is being proposed at European level.

This is very difficult subject in many ways. We are largely talking about extended supply chains that go into Latin America and Africa, as has been mentioned. There is a big political difficulty in many of those countries in that the human rights we are trying to endorse are often not endorsed by those governments. That is an issue in terms of how this European directive can have teeth in trying to improve the lives of people in those countries.

The witnesses have mentioned a number of key areas they would like to see this legislation scope out. One was the provision of criminal liability and civil liability. I think the witnesses are talking about companies that either use extended supply chains or have subsidiaries. I think that it will be very difficult, from a legal perspective, to try to enforce that. It is a matter of the degree to which people who are dislocated by either governance or geography are found culpable in some way for what is going on in a far-removed country. I would like to understand how the witnesses feel the European directive will affect that.

It is very important that the witnesses have highlighted managing the risks of retaliation against, in particular, those who are in human rights and involved in those endeavours, and protecting sources. It is absolutely vital that we can, at a European level, try to offer some protection, but what would that look like? Are we going to bring people involved in mining or deforestation from South America into a witness protection programme? I can see the ethos of what we are trying to do. It appears to me that the best way to try to marshal this is through corporate reputation. One of the big phone manufacturers was highlighted. We saw what happened when cameras were brought into China to see what was happening in manufacturing. We saw in Pakistan girls of four, five and six sewing sequins onto textiles and how that had an effect. I would like to see something more in respect of what we are discussing as to how we can use the power of social media and of global communications to really help people on the ground. Ms Lawlor spoke about the killing in South America of people involved in deforestation. We have to find a way of connecting that activity with what we consume, what we buy and what we market.

The witnesses may wish to take those couple of points. How do we make this legislation reach out into the conscious mind of social media marketing? That, to me, is where it can have the greatest effect in respect of consumer buying. If consumer buying behaviour is changed, we will absolutely impact some of these activities on the ground.