Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 November 2018
155. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of the work of his Department's committee on human rights; the details of its membership; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47181/18]
View answerThe NGO Standing Committee on Human Rights was established in 1997 to facilitate formal consultation on human rights aspects of foreign policy on foot of a commitment contained in the 1996 White Paper on Foreign Policy. This was restated in The Global Island, Ireland's current Foreign Policy document, which commits the Government to maintaining an open and constructive dialogue with Irish civil society on human rights issues through the Committee.
Members of the Committee are appointed by the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. When appointing a new Committee this year, it was decided to change its name to the DFAT Committee on Human Rights to reflect more accurately its composition, which includes not only NGOs but also the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and its Northern Ireland counterpart as well as the Irish Congress of Trade Unions together with a number of individual members, mainly current or past Irish office holders in UN and Council of Europe human rights bodies. The full current membership of the Committee is listed below.
The Committee is chaired by the Director of the Human Rights Unit and meets three to four times per year. DFAT officials and representatives from other Government Departments are invited to attend to give updates on issues which may be of interest to Committee members.
The current Committee met for the first time on 5 September 2018 and the most recent meeting of the Committee took place on 12 November 2018. Topics discussed at this meeting include Ireland’s campaign for a seat on the Security Council, Ireland’s new international development policy and civil society space.
