Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 372: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has not been incorporated into domestic law in view of the fact that Ireland has incorporated other international human rights instruments into international law; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23848/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Ireland signed the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination in 1968 and ratified it in January 2001 whereupon it became binding on Ireland in international law. Ratification occurred after the enactment of the Employment Equality Act 1998 and the Equal Status Act 2000. Once the Treaty obligations have been legislated for, those legislative provisions are binding in domestic law. There is no obligation under the Convention for Ireland to incorporate the Convention into domestic law. Ireland has chosen to fulfil the international obligations binding on us following accession to the Convention through our domestic legislation which deals specifically with all the forms of racial discrimination prohibited by the Convention. Once all the Convention's obligations have been provided for, there is no specific need to incorporate the Convention into domestic legislation.