Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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301. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will adopt the recommendation of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission that contracts for subcontracted State services for children, including health, care work, immigration and asylum services, be awarded subject to mandatory requirements for human rights compliance. [2838/16]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The submission made by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), in December, included a proposition relating to Public procurement and children's rights. In that context the Commission stated that reform of the type it recommends could take place in the wider context of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. It noted that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is in the process of developing a National Plan on Business and Human Rights and that this process presents an opportunity for human rights to be integrated across a wide spectrum.

The issues raised by the Deputy are the responsibility of several Departments. In the context of work on a National Plan being led by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, my Department will work with other Departments to see how the submission of IHREC to the UNCRC can best be taken on board.