Child Protection

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 May 2022

Wednesday, 4 May 2022

Questions (339)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

339. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 1139 of 26 April 2022 in which he states that the list of issues prior to reporting did not include reference to the second Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and therefore there is no reference to the issue in the State Report, if his attention has been drawn to the fact that he stated in Parliamentary Question No. 367 of 12 October 2021 that it had always been his intention to include an update on the ratification process of the second Optional Protocol in the final report to the UN Committee in February 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22293/22]

Written answers

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

Further to my replies of 26 April 2022 and 12 October 2021, I can confirm that my intention was to include an update on the ratification process of the second Optional Protocol in the final report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in February 2022.

Following the public consultation on the draft State Report in autumn 2021, my officials considered the submissions received during the consultation. My officials also consulted with counterparts within my Department and in other departments in late 2021 to ensure that the most current information was included in the final State Report.

Regrettably, an update on the ratification process of the second Optional Protocol was not possible in the submitted State Report. This was due to the State’s resolve to address comprehensively all the issues raised by the UN Committee in its List of Issues Prior to Reporting and to remain within the strict word limit of 21,200 words imposed by the UN Committee. These constraints did not allow, on this occasion, the opportunity to incorporate updates on important issues not directly raised in the UN Committee’s List of Issues such as the ratification process of the second Optional Protocol.

I remain available to provide such an update when I appear before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva.