Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the speakers. It has been a really powerful set of presentations and interactions.

I went to Colombia on a trade union mission four years ago, I think, and saw at first hand the horrors there. As the witnesses will know, Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world in which to be a member of a trade union. I received a number of very serious complaints about a very prominent Irish company, which I will not name.

I found it disturbing to hear that. Thankfully, there is now a progressive government in Colombia for the first time, so the country is, I hope, on the cusp of change.

To get to the crux of the issue, it is clear that everyone, on a cross-party basis here, wants to support this directive and beef it up, which is welcome. Nevertheless, when the Tánaiste appeared before the committee last week, we got very few answers. A number of us, from several parties, not just Sinn Féin, raised questions but I did not feel as though we got answers. Why do our guests think that is? As they pointed out, we are not at an early stage. A third compromise draft is being developed, yet Ministers seem prepared to say as little as possible in regard to this. Is something preventing them from speaking about this? I have to say, I think they are dragging their feet. I want to understand from our guests' perspectives why the Government is dragging its feet in regard to these very important human rights issues.