Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We may not use the entirety of our ten minutes but let us see where the journey takes us. I note the Minister of State's remarks in respect of the Government having greater ambition than is laid out in this legislation.

I would take issue with that. There is no doubt that developments in respect of the directive have, in some respects, overtaken the ambition of our own legislation. If the Government were ambitious, it would have legislated to put this on a mandatory footing before now. In truth, given the Government's track record in this space over the last few years, and its reliance on voluntarist codes, I think we can conclude that the reality is the only reason the Government is intending to legislate in this space is because it will be forced to do so arising from the requirement to transpose the directive. I say this to the Government with the utmost of respect.

France legislated in this regard in 2017. As I said in my opening remarks, several other EU states are in the process of putting these very important frameworks on a legislative footing as well. I also said very clearly in my opening remarks that Ireland, of all countries, has a historical responsibility and a moral and ethical obligation to put such codes on a mandatory legal footing to ensure we root out exploitative practices in a global supply chain that is often very opaque and complex. It is becoming increasingly so in an ever more globalised and interconnected world. We have a particular responsibility here because many of the companies engaged in these practices, of which we are all only too well aware, have their Europe, the Middle East and Africa, EMEA, headquarters in this country. They employ many people, contribute significantly to our tax base, whether through corporation tax or payroll tax, and also contribute to the creation and retention of good, skilled jobs in this economy.

We should not, though, be beggaring somebody else and accepting that forced labour, and child labour in particular, the most egregious form of forced labour, is in any way tolerated in the global supply chain. There is always a price to be paid for cheap products. We may not be paying the financial price here but there are children, families and entire communities and countries paying the price because of our appetite for cheap goods. In this regard, cheap food is the area for which the Minister of State is himself directly responsible in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. These are cheap goods and services on which we all rely, and, unfortunately, we do not ask too many questions about where these goods and services come from, why they are so cheap, what goes into making them and who, ultimately, pays the price for them.

I saw and noted the statement yesterday from the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, concerning the inaugural meeting of the responsible business forum. I have been around long enough to know when I see a corporate social responsibility initiative, and I think we can separate out corporate social responsibility initiatives from initiatives that make a structural difference, a real difference, to the kinds of imbalances and power inequities we see across this country and the globe. While any initiative of this nature is to be welcomed, we must move beyond marketing initiatives to real initiatives and legal mandates that bestow actual legislative responsibilities and responsibilities to be accountable on big corporations that are profiting in so many ways from issues in the global supply chain that we reflected on during this discussion.

I thank the Minister of State for his response from the Department and for his commitment, and that of other Ministers in the Department, to moving on this agenda. This is the first piece of legislation of this nature presented to either House of the Oireachtas and we in the Labour Party are proud that we have produced this legislation in 2021. Two years old and all as it is now, we hope this Bill, originally introduced on First Stage by my colleague, Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, has in some way prompted some action from the Government and informed the position that officials and Ministers have taken at European level in connection with the negotiations currently under way, for example, on the new directive. We also hope that the imprint of this legislation will be found in the legislation that will be required to go through these Houses to enact the provisions in terms of the transposition of the CSDD directive when it comes before us.

The Minister of State is right that countries can act independently, but the most effective form of action, undoubtedly, in all our collective experience is multilateral responses by the EU and the UN. In respect of Ireland, I refer to a strong response from the EU in respect of an acceptance of responsibility as a wealthy and rich bloc of trading countries to low-income countries across the world. We can do better. I hope this legislation will assist the Government in this process in terms of the directive and I look forward to debating the legislation that will arise from the transposition of that directive when the time is right. I am hopeful we will see this legislation and action in this regard sooner rather than later.

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