John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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142. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade when Ireland and the EU will have a detailed position on the UN treaty to regulate transnational corporations and other business enterprises and plans for engagement in the seventh session of the UN open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33738/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Following its sixth session in October 2020, the Open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other enterprises with respect to human rights is continuing with its work. A third revised draft of the proposed legally binding instrument is due to be presented in July 2021.

Once this draft is presented, it will be considered by all UN members, including EU Member States, in advance of the seventh session of the Open-Ended intergovernmental Working Group in October 2021.

Having regard to the EU’s competences in this area, Ireland continues to encourage the European Commission to conduct a legal analysis of the proposed instrument and to continue facilitating detailed internal policy discussions.

We continue to follow the evolving policy discussions on Business and Human Rights at national, regional and international levels, and to engage closely with EU Member States that are particularly active in the area of Business and Human Right. We are also engaging actively with the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises.