John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the updated national action plan. I am sure the Minister will agree Irish companies have a responsibility to respect human rights, workers' rights and environmental standards wherever they operate. Unfortunately, however, this is currently done on a voluntary basis and that is simply not acceptable. If we are serious about respecting human rights, that should be mandatory. There are many delays in respect of the UN treaty, which is unhelpful. We are going into the seventh round of talks and there is considerable foot-dragging in that regard. We can follow other countries such as France, which in 2017 brought forward legislation, or Germany or Norway, which also brought forward binding legislation to ensure businesses would respect human rights. That is a track we must follow.

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