Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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593. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when the second optional protocol of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child will be ratified; the reason Ireland is the only EU member state yet to ratify the convention; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11541/19]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I am strongly committed to the ratification of the Second Optional Protocol. Preparations to ratify the protocol are at an advanced stage and my Department is currently finalising a submission for the attention of the Attorney General, proposing the ratification of the Second Optional Protocol. Once approved, I will seek a Government decision on the ratification of the Convention at the earliest opportunity.

To date, ratification has been pending to ensure that all of the necessary measures have been put in place to fully comply with the obligations of the convention. The recent enactments of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 and the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017 by the Department of Justice and Equality have fulfilled a number of the protocol’s requirements.

I greatly look forward to advancing progress on this important area of work and moving towards the confirmation of Ireland’s ratification of the Second Optional Protocol in the near future.