Selected key themes

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights highlight the importance of addressing issues such as gender. In furtherance of this work, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights has examined the UNGPs through a “gender lens”, highlighting the fact that “women (including girls) experience business-related human rights abuses in unique ways and are often affected disproportionately.”

The Working Group states that business enterprises need to pay “special attention to the unique experiences of women and the structural discrimination or barriers that they face.”

A booklet with guidance on the gender lens to the UNGPs is available on the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ website.

Ireland advocates strongly for human rights defenders in its foreign policy and works closely with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs).

HRDs are particularly vulnerable to threats and attacks where they raise concerns about adverse human rights impacts of business operations, as highlighted by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.

The UN Working Group has highlighted the key role that HRDs can have in human rights due diligence, noting that the UNGPs:

• urge businesses to consult human rights defenders as an important expert resource as part of their human rights due diligence, as defenders have a key role as watchdogs, advocates and voice for affected stakeholders
• urge States to ensure that the legitimate activities of human rights defenders are not obstructed.

The International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) has developed a Human Rights Defender Toolkit which provides guidance.

The UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights has examined how corruption involving business enterprises can lead to human rights abuses and underlined the importance of connecting the business and human rights and anti-corruption agendas.

In Ireland, there is a strong suite of anti-corruption measures. A cross-departmental website www.anticorruption.ie brings together information on anti-corruption laws and policies in Ireland as well as guidance for making complaints. The State’s anti-corruption laws were strengthened and modernised in 2018 with the passage of the Criminal Justice (Corruption Offences) Act 2018, which encompasses the requirements of a number of international legal instruments including the OECD Convention on Bribery of Foreign Public Officials. The Government is currently preparing an implementation plan for the far-reaching Review of Structures and Strategies to Prevent, Investigate and Penalise Economic Crime and Corruption.

Transparency Ireland is an independent anti-corruption organisation. Its Integrity at Work (IAW) programme aims to help foster workplaces where people are supported to raise concerns of wrongdoing and act with integrity.

In Ireland, the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 (PDA) provides a statutory framework for protections to whistleblowers who raise concerns regarding potential wrongdoing in their workplace. These protections apply to workers in all sectors of the economy, both public and private. They protect whistleblowers from being penalised by their employer for reporting wrongdoing in the workplace or suffering any detriment for doing so. The Act requires every public body to establish and maintain procedures for dealing with protected disclosures and to provide written information relating to these procedures to their employees.

The European Union (Disclosure of Non-Financial and Diversity Information by certain large undertakings and groups) Regulations 2017 were signed into law in Ireland on 30 July 2017 and came into operation on 21 August 2017.

The Regulations, which transpose EU Directive 2014/95/EU, require certain specified large companies such as banks, insurance undertakings and listed companies with more than 500 employees to annually disclose certain company information of a non-financial nature. That information includes environmental matters, social and employee related issues, respect for human rights and bribery and corruption matters. The Regulations also require large listed companies to report annually on the diversity policy applied in respect of the board of directors.

The Regulations apply to financial years beginning on or after 1 August 2017.

The European Union (Disclosure of Non-Financial and Diversity Information by Certain Large Undertakings and Groups) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (SI No 410 of 2018) were signed into law on the 9 October 2018 and came into operation on the 17 October 2018.

These Regulations make some technical amendments to Regulations 4 and 5 of the European Union (Disclosure of Non-Financial and Diversity Information by Certain Large Undertakings and Groups) Regulations 2017 (SI No 360 of 2017).

On its 11 December 2019 Communication on the European Green Deal, the Commission committed to review the non-financial reporting directive in 2020 as part of the strategy to strengthen the foundations for sustainable investment.

The following sections are taken from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) website, last updated on 18 January 2021

The Kimberley Process

The Kimberley Process (KP) is an international trade regime consisting of governments, the diamond industry and NGOs, with the goal of preventing the trade of conflict diamonds. Since its introduction in 2003, global production of conflict diamonds has decreased by 99.8%.

There are 55 participants in the KP, with the EU acting as a single participant. Anyone wishing to import or export rough diamonds into or out of the EU must do so through a designated Kimberley Process Union Authority and comply with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS).

There are currently seven EU Member States, including Ireland, which are KP Union Authorities. The Kimberley Process and Responsible Minerals Authority (KPRMA) in DECC is a KP Union Authority and is authorised to approve imports and exports of rough diamonds.

There are also so-called 'conflict minerals' - tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold, also referred to as 3TG, which are used in everyday products such as mobile phones, cars or jewellery. In politically unstable areas, these minerals can be used to finance armed groups, fuel forced labour and other human rights abuses, and support corruption and money laundering.

The EU Conflict Minerals Regulation

The EU Conflict Minerals Regulation EU Conflict Minerals Regulation aims to ensure that the EU supply chain for these 3TG minerals and metals is from responsible and conflict-free sources only. This regulation will come into full force across the EU on 1 January 2021. DECC is the competent authority in Ireland, which means that it is responsible for carrying out checks to ensure that EU importers of 3TG minerals or metals are complying with their obligations. DECC will introduce enabling national legislation to achieve the aims of the EU Regulation and, in doing so, facilitate Irish companies trading in conflict free minerals and metals.