Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I assure the Deputy that nobody is having a word in anyone's ear urging caution. The reality is that Ireland takes a different approach to these matters. There are many countries around the world which will ratify this convention but it will have no meaningful effect. Ireland does these things differently.

This means that effectively when Ireland ratifies a convention it has material effect. Other countries can ratify it but it is a meaningless statement. Ireland signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007 and is one of three EU member states yet to ratify. I agree it has taken too long and have no difficulty in accepting that, but different countries take different approaches. We take our international obligations very seriously and we do not ratify until we can guarantee compliance. We sign conventions as a declaration of our commitment that we want to apply the convention concerned in Ireland but we ratify when we can guarantee to our international partners that we are meeting our commitments. We could ratify in the morning, but we still have a number of steps yet to take.

Under the Constitution, the conduct of international affairs is the responsibility of Government, and this includes ratification of international conventions. However, the sole prerogative of legislating for the State is vested in the Oireachtas. This is also reflected in Article 29.6 of the Constitution, which states that no international agreement shall be part of the domestic law of the State, save as may be determined by the Oireachtas. That is how we do things in Ireland. When we ratify, it has meaningful import.

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