Ireland
Section 3: Actions
II. Key commitments to ensure policy coherence across government [page 16-17]
“As demonstrated in the previous section, there is already a considerable and continuous effort across government to promote human rights and to encourage or enforce positive action from the private sector. The following commitments form a central part of formalising and consolidating these efforts.
| Commitment | Time Frame | Responsible Government Department |
|---|---|---|
| Commission a study to conduct a comprehensive baseline assessment of the legislative and regulatory framework pertaining to business and human rights as it applies in Ireland | To be completed within six months of publication of the National Plan | Foreign Affairs and Trade |
| Establish a ‘Business and Human Rights Implementation Group’, which will consist of representatives from Government, the business community and civil society, and will meet twice a year to review the implementation of the National Plan over the first three years | Membership to be announced within three months of publication of the National Plan | Foreign Affairs and Trade |
| Convene a forum on Business and Human Rights within two years of the adoption of the National Plan. This will bring together stakeholders including Government, the business community and civil society and will facilitate the exchange of views on progress in delivering on the National Plan | Within two years of publication of the National Plan | Foreign Affairs and Trade |
| Amend the terms of reference of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Human Rights to include the monitoring of the National Plan | Concurrent with the publication of the National Plan | Foreign Affairs and Trade |
| Include Business and Human Rights as a regular item on the agenda of the DFAT Ngo standing Committee on Human Rights | Concurrent with the publication of the National Plan | Foreign Affairs and Trade |
| Ensure coherence between the National Plan on Corporate Social Responsibility and the National Plan on Business and Human Rights, including by promoting cooperation between the Business and Human Rights implementation Working Group and the Corporate Social Responsibility Stakeholder Forum | The CSR Plan was launched on 26 June 2017 | Foreign Affairs and Trade, Enterprise and Innovation |
| Ensure coherence between the implementation of the National Plan on Business and Human Rights and Ireland’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and security | Current Action Plan runs until 2018 | Foreign Affairs and Trade |
| Ensure coherence between Ireland’s new trading strategy: ‘Ireland Connected: trading and investing in a Dynamic World’, and the National Plan on Business and Human Rights | Concurrent with the publication of the National Plan | The Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Enterprise and Innovation, Education and Skills, Transport, Tourism and Sport, Community and Rural affairs, Arts, & Heritage & the Gaeltacht, Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine |
Annex 1 – List of additional and ongoing actions to be carried out across Government
EU and Multilateral Efforts [page 20]
“9. share information about challenges and good practices on business and human rights with partners in the EU and the UN, including promoting coherence in the implementation of the EU’s Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy (2015-2019) and the EU’s Gender Action Plan (2016-2020).”