Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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282. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to provide a list of the civil society organisations and civil society groups which the Minister or Ministers of State within his Department met regarding the Omnibus Package on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. [67225/25]

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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283. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to list the businesses and business groups which he, or Ministers of State within his Department met regarding the omnibus package on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. [67226/25]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 282 and 283 together.

I can confirm to the Deputy that neither I, nor the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, nor the Minister of State for Employment, Small Business and Retail have met with any of the organisations or groups referenced in her questions regarding the Omnibus proposal on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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284. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when the second National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights, under development since 2023, will be completed and published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67227/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and my Department established a dedicated Business and Human Rights Stakeholder Forum with the participation of individuals with relevant expertise and responsibilities from key organisations across business, civil society, trade unions and academia to assist with the development of the second National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.

The Stakeholder Forum has met twice, proving invaluable in shaping the draft Plan. At the second Stakeholder Forum meeting, officials outlined the draft action points forming the basis of the new Plan. Following this meeting, stakeholder members provided further written feedback to be considered. This feedback continues to be reviewed across all relevant Government Departments to ensure the identified actions are deliverable during the lifetime of the plan.

As many of the suggested actions relate to the work of other Government Departments, we still await their agreed inputs to move forward with a set of actions that are feasible, actionable and specific in place. Officials from my Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade continue to liaise with the relevant officials across Government. It is taking some time to work through the suggested updated actions with these officials as some of the updates are technical in nature. This work continues, and we are nearing its completion. Once a final set of actions is agreed with other Government Departments, it can then be presented to the Stakeholder Forum for their views.

Nearly all of the actions under Pillar I and Pillar II have been agreed or are being finalised, the majority of which are being brought forward by my Department or the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. However, officials continue to engage with relevant Departments to agree and finalise actions under Pillar III, Access to Remedy. There was a clear call from stakeholders for meaningful actions to be included under this pillar and we are striving to reflect this in the Plan.

While it has taken longer than expected to complete this work, I do think it is important that time has been taken to ensure we can present an ambitious plan with clear, deliverable actions that represent the expectations of stakeholders. Once the actions with other relevant Departments can be agreed, it will be presented to the Stakeholder Forum for consideration, with a view to publishing soon thereafter. A date has yet to be confirmed.

The finalised plan will cover a multi-annual timeframe and will reflect new developments in the international understanding of business and human rights, including new EU instruments. It will have key performance indicators which will have assigned responsibilities and timelines to adhere to. I expect this to bring human rights to the fore in the minds of Irish businesses so they can demonstrate their conscientious performance as required by the public.