Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The implementation group has been rather quiet and I am not sure if some of the subgroups have even met. At a conference in Trinity College Dublin last Friday a report on benchmarking compliance with the UN guiding principles was presented. It indicated that progress had been very slow in meeting the guiding principles on business and human rights. Berta Cáceres was murdered for her work with indigenous people. Seven men and one woman were convicted of her murder last year, but the court found that they had been hired by a construction company's executives in the territory where she had been working and lawsuits are being taken against some multinationals. The report showed a lack of awareness among many Irish companies of the guiding principles. There is no embedding of respect for them and human rights due diligence in their policies. If we are serious about our national plan, much more work needs to be done to ensure mandatory human rights due diligence mechanisms. Some of the NGOs have suggested there be a national consultation process on the UN treaty. I take heart from what the Minister has said about Ireland's position and that we will be positive, but we need to maintain that push.

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