Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 December 2020
331. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if a national consultation on the UN treaty as recommended by the chair of the UN intergovernmental working group in the draft report of the sixth session will be held; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40379/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe draft Report to which the Deputy refers arises from the recent sixth session of the open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and other business enterprises, which took place from 26 to 30 October 2020. As it is currently in draft form, the report is now open for consultation, with a final version due to be completed in 2021.
The draft recommendation on national consultations is directed at a wide range of stakeholders, rather than specifically at national Governments; it recommends “that the Chair-Rapporteur encourage regional and political groups, intergovernmental organizations, national human rights institutions, civil society and all other relevant stakeholders, as appropriate, to organize consultations at all levels, including in particular at the regional and national level, with a view to exchanging comments and inputs on the second revised draft legally binding instrument”.
My Department’s approach to policy formulation always involves dialogue with a range of stakeholders. In the context of the proposed Legally Binding Instrument, my officials in Dublin and Geneva have met with the Irish Coalition on Business and Human Rights in respect of the second draft of the Instrument, and we have received the Coalition’s written submissions. This dialogue will continue.
