Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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216. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will report on the work of his Department on the second national action plan on business and human rights. [21153/22]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Ireland's first National Plan on Business and Human Rights 2017-2020 was launched by the Department of Foreign Affairs towards the end of 2017. Ireland was the 19th country in the world to publish such a plan in response to the endorsement of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights by the Human Rights Council in 2011.

The implementation of this whole-of-government plan was overseen by an implementation group comprised of representatives of Government, civil society and business. Both the plan itself and the programme for Government committed to a review of implementation. This review was undertaken by the Department of Foreign Affairs in consultation with stakeholders during 2021. A draft report was considered at the special session of the multi-stakeholder implementation group on 31 May 2021. This forum included participation by a member of the UN working group on business and human rights, a business and human rights expert from the Danish Institute for Human Rights, and officials from three EU member state Ministries.

The Government noted the finalised review at its meeting on 3 December 2021. It is published on the Department of Foreign Affairs website: www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/ourrolepolicies/humanrights/Review-of-Implementation-of-National-Plan-on-Business-and-Human-Rights-2017-2020---for-website.docx.pdf

Discussions have commenced about how to bring a new plan forward. Officials in my Department will proactively engage with colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs to provide necessary input into a new plan.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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217. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on whether human rights defenders should be named stakeholders in Irish national mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation. [21154/22]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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A proposal for a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence was published by the European Commission on 23rd February 2022. The proposal aims to address the adverse environmental and human rights impacts arising from the operations of companies and those of their subsidiaries and value chains. There will be due diligence obligations on such companies and company directors, when fulfilling their duty to act in the best interest of the company, will be required to take into account the consequences of their decisions on sustainability matters, including, where applicable, human rights, climate change and environmental impacts. Larger companies will be required to adopt a plan to ensure that their business model and strategy is compatible with the transition to a sustainable economy and the limiting of global warming to 1.5 °C, in line with the Paris Agreement. The proposed Directive also requires companies to establish procedures to handle complaints from those adversely affected by company operations and from other key stakeholders. The proposal also provides for the designation of supervisory authorities at national level and a civil liability regime in relation to companies who fail to meet their obligations.

Ireland is supportive of the objective of the proposed Directive which should promote responsible business conduct and we will seek to ensure that the proposals strike the right balance by providing effective protections whilst ensuring that the measures to be implemented by companies are clear, proportionate, and enforceable. It is important that measures such as those proposed are on a cross EU basis in recognition of the complex, international nature of many supply chains and to ensure harmonisation, promote policy coherence, and avoid the risk of fragmentation within the EU single market.

Consideration of the proposals is at an early stage and is ongoing across EU Member States. My Department is engaging at EU working party level to clarify the practical implications for stakeholders.

The proposal contains a definition for stakeholder which is broadly defined and encompasses a company’s employees, the employees of its subsidiaries, and other individuals, groups, communities or entities whose rights or interests are or could be affected by the products, services and operations of the company, its subsidiaries or its business relationships. My Department remains committed to ensuring that the interests and rights of all stakeholders are appropriately protected under the proposals.

Given the complexity of the issues being addressed, negotiations at EU level may well continue through the remainder of this year and into 2023. Decisions on how the proposals will be legislated for in an Irish context will be taken once the Directive has been finalised. My Department has begun a process of engagement with key stakeholders and intends conducting a public consultation on the proposals in due course.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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218. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if the Government will be pushing to ensure that human rights defenders are named stakeholders in the final European Union directive on corporate sustainability due diligence. [21155/22]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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A proposal for a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD) was published by the European Commission on 23rd February 2022. The proposal aims to address the adverse environmental and human rights impacts arising from the operations of companies and those of their subsidiaries and value chains. There will be due diligence obligations on such companies and company directors, when fulfilling their duty to act in the best interest of the company, will be required to take into account the consequences of their decisions on sustainability matters, including, where applicable, human rights, climate change and environmental impacts. Larger companies will be required to adopt a plan to ensure that their business model and strategy is compatible with the transition to a sustainable economy and the limiting of global warming to 1.5 °C, in line with the Paris Agreement. The proposed Directive also requires companies to establish procedures to handle complaints from those adversely affected by company operations and from other key stakeholders. The proposal also provides for the designation of supervisory authorities at national level and a civil liability regime in relation to companies who fail to meet their obligations.

Ireland is supportive of the objective of the proposed Directive which should promote responsible business conduct and we will seek to ensure that the proposals strike the right balance by providing effective protections whilst ensuring that the measures to be implemented by companies are clear, proportionate, and enforceable. It is important that measures such as those proposed are on a cross EU basis in recognition of the complex, international nature of many supply chains and to ensure harmonisation, promote policy coherence, and avoid the risk of fragmentation within the EU single market.

The proposal contains a definition for stakeholder which is broadly defined and encompasses a company’s employees, the employees of its subsidiaries, and other individuals, groups, communities or entities whose rights or interests are or could be affected by the products, services and operations of the company, its subsidiaries or its business relationships. My Department remains committed to ensuring the interests and rights of all stakeholders are protected under the proposals.

Consideration of the proposals is at an early stage and is ongoing across EU Member States. My Department is engaging at EU working party level to clarify the practical implications for stakeholders.  Given the complexity of the issues being addressed, negotiations at EU level may well continue through the remainder of this year and into 2023. 

Decisions on how the proposals will be legislated for in an Irish context will be taken once the Directive has been finalised.  My Department has begun a process of engagement with key stakeholders and intends conducting a public consultation on the proposals in due course to help inform government's position.