Mr. Conor O'Neill:

On the European element, as someone who has followed this at domestic and European level for a long time, it is difficult ever to feel optimistic but if ever there was a moment - for all the worst possible reasons - when there is a window to do something meaningful, it is right now.

The letter that was sent and published on this issue specifically, including by Ireland, which we acknowledge the leadership on, is meaningful. There is a coalition of the willing there. However, the key thing we have to remember in these Houses is that leadership is not just something you say; it is something you do. It is an active word, and this legislation would do exactly that. Senator Black talked about the political leadership and the domino effect. We have talked about the legal leadership. If you were to take the case and do it right, you could change the situation very quickly. At European level, there is a moment here to strike and do this.

As regards the business responsibility, that is a really important point because we and a lot of the organisations involved in this work in the sphere that is often called business and human rights. There have been disasters around the world. The committee had a session with the Irish Coalition for Business and Human Rights and it talked about the guidelines there. We have had guiding principles from the United Nations and the OECD on responsible business conduct for about ten or 15 years. They have made a big difference in changing the normative way we think about this but they have not really changed company behaviour. The very reason we are looking for binding legislation is that we want the State to assume its responsibility to properly regulate every corporate actor. The vast majority of businesses are not involved in the settlements. I think the vast majority of businesses know that this is wrong but, as we have demonstrated in the opening statements, there are others and they are not going to stop doing what they do if there is money to be made just because we ask nicely. We need to regulate them properly. That is our position.