Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There was a certain amount of talk about colonisation and post-colonialism at the beginning of this session. I have spoken many times about the subtle influence of money on the policy agendas of governments and international bodies, and the ideological activism that can be associated with that money. As Senators know, within the United Nations, special rapporteurs are regularly appointed to look into particular countries or investigate a specific issue. They are usually lawyers who are considered to be human rights experts and are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council.

Earlier this year, the European Centre for Law and Justice, an established and respected NGO based in Strasbourg, published a report which showed some shocking practices in relation to special rapporteurs. The report found that various private foundations, NGOs and, in some cases, governments are spending huge amounts of money to influence these rapporteurs and, in some cases, on recruiting them in the first place. This violates both the letter and the spirit, I believe, of UN rules and anti-corruption legislation but the practice has been silently tolerated for years.

I would like a debate on this with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney. Between 2015 and 2019, 121 UN special rapporteurs were appointed, of whom 37 received payments totalling $11 million outside of any UN control from private foundations and NGOs, including the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Foundations of George Soros and other anonymous donors. It is a matter of public record that the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty was paid $600,000 by the Open Society Foundations in 2018 and 2019 through various grants, yet only declared $5,000 of that to the United Nations. An Irish lawyer has held special rapporteur positions while concurrently being the chairperson of an Open Society Foundations project.

The code of conduct which applies to special rapporteurs calls for "objectivity and non-selectivity in the consideration of human rights issues, and the elimination of double standards and politicization." There is a problem if special rapporteurs are receiving payments from organisations which hold particular views on the issues they are investigating and if they are funding political campaigns on that basis. There is more to be said. I will return to this matter but I place it before the Deputy Leader and ask that the Minister for Foreign Affairs come to the House and address the issue head-on with us.