Katherine Zappone (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 21, line 15, after “appropriate” to insert the following:"and referred for consideration to the Joint Oireachtas Committee with particular responsibility for human rights and equality".

The objective of both amendments is to seek to encourage closer co-operation between the new body and the Oireachtas.

There are international, European and Irish elements in the background to our recommendation of these amendments. Internationally, in February 2012 the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights organised an international gathering to develop principles to guide the interaction between national human rights institutions and parliaments. Its rationale for the gathering was rooted in its desire to assist implementation of the Paris Principles, which are foundational principles for the establishment of effective national human rights institutions. The Paris Principles state national human rights institutions shall establish effective co-operation with parliament. The document published subsequent to that 2012 gathering is entitled the Belgrade Principles. That is the short title and sufficient for now. Principle 21 states: "Parliaments should identify or establish an appropriate parliamentary committee which will be the NHRI’s main point of contact within Parliament".

At European level, on Second Stage I mentioned that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe had produced a report in May on a similar topic of improving co-operation between national human rights institutions and parliaments. I am pleased that the Bill includes many of the elements included in the report's resolution, which was adopted unanimously by the Parliamentary assembly. Section 6 of the resolution states the assembly calls on national parliaments of Council of Europe member states to "set up, where it does not yet exist, a parliamentary committee responsible for human rights [and] equality". It is this committee with which the national human rights institutions has a formal relationship.

The Irish background to the proposals on foot of the Belgrade Principles and other international initiatives is that the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality met members of the IHREC designate in March to consider ways to ensure deeper engagement between the committee and the IHREC. One of the items we agreed to was to see whether there was a legislative basis for the engagement of the IHREC with committees, including a committee with specific responsibility for human rights oversight. Both amendments seek to ensure closer co-operation between our committee system and national human rights institutions to support parliamentary involvement in the oversight of human rights and proper integration of human rights obligations in law-making.