Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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6. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to clarify a statement in a press release by his Department on 23 September 2024 that ratifying the second optional protocol will mean that Ireland is officially bound by its terms under international law (details supplied). [42105/24]

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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25. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if a guarantee can be provided that the second optional protocol to the UNCRC will be ratified before the term of the Thirty-third Dáil concludes (details supplied); if his Department has finalised the outstanding legal obstacles; and if not, the measures required before Ireland can finally ratify this protocol. [42104/24]

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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I ask the Minister to clarify a statement in a press release from his Department on 23 September 2024 to the effect that ratifying the second optional protocol would mean that Ireland is officially bound by the terms under international law. It is linked to another question. Can a guarantee be provided that the second optional protocol to the UNCRC will be ratified before the end of the term of the Thirty-third Dáil? Has his Department finalised the outstanding legal obstacles? If not, I ask the Minister to outline the measures required before Ireland can ratify this important protocol.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I am taking Questions Nos. 6 and 25 together.

The Government is firmly committed to the ratification of the second optional protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNCRC. Ireland signed the second optional protocol in 2000, and the Government is committed to taking the further step of ratifying it as soon as possible. Ratifying the protocol will mean that Ireland is officially bound by its terms under international law. In Irish treaty practice, the State must be in a position to meet the obligations it assumes under the terms of an international agreement from the moment it enters into force. Often, it will not be possible for the State to meet these obligations without first taking the steps required by domestic law, or otherwise, to enable it to do so.

Following consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, several legislative measures have been implemented which were necessary to ensure that Ireland is in compliance with the obligations of the optional protocol. Enactment of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 and the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017 were significant steps on the pathway to the ratification of the optional protocol. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Act 2024 was signed into law on 17 July 2024, which amends the Sexual Offences (Jurisdiction) Act 1996 and the Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Act 2008; and provides for related matters, for the purposes of giving effect to the optional protocol to the convention on the rights of the child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Following enactment of this legislation, officials in my Department will work with the Office of the Attorney General on the next steps to ensure readiness across all relevant Departments. As the Deputy may be aware, Ireland ratified the third optional protocol to the UNCRC on a communication procedure in 2014. This protocol allows individual children, or those acting on their behalf, to submit complaints about specific violations of their rights under the convention and its first two optional protocols directly to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, provided that State is a party to those treaties.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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I thank the Minister. He said it was signed in 2000 and we are still waiting for ratification. Certain legislative hurdles have had to be dealt with before we can reach that stage. The Minister said that, following enactment of the legislation, officials in his Department will work with the Office of the Attorney General on the next steps to ensure readiness across all relevant Departments. The two relevant pieces of legislation have been signed by the President. How quickly can the Minister move this forward? Can a memo be sent to all Departments and can it be ratified before the Dáil term finishes?

This has been going on for a long time. We have seen horrific media reports on the impact of child pornography on children, but we still have not ratified the convention. When Katherine Zappone was Minister she said it would be ratified before her term finished. We are still stuck in a quagmire. I have tabled many questions on this issue. I want to name Tom Brown, who continuously raises the issue of the second optional protocol. It is important that we put this in place very soon in order to protect people.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy. I would make a comparison with the work completed in recent weeks on the optional protocol to the disability convention. It was an optional protocol to the treaty we had signed. Ratification had been blocked by the fact that some key legislation had not been passed. We passed the assisted decision-making legislation, which was important. I brought together an interdepartmental group in March and in Cabinet three weeks ago we announced that the optional protocol had been signed. We might discuss that in more detail later today.

I will go back to my officials and get an understanding. I suggest we could seek that a similar approach be taken in terms of an interdepartmental group. I will be honest. Given where we are in the lifetime of this Government, I am not sure if this can be established within what is quite a short timeframe. I can take the preliminary steps to ensure there is work done and whoever comes into this Department next has something ready to go rather than having to start something from scratch. If the Deputy is happy, I will progress on that basis.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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I would welcome any step that can put the protocol in place so that it is not put on the long finger again when there may be a new Minister in place. It is important to do that. The Minister had said that he expected an awareness-raising campaign to commence in early 2024, and details of the campaign had yet to be decided. Can he provide me with an update on the campaign and what he has done from early 2024 to date?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy. I do not have the details with me, so I will come back to her in writing on that point. It is very fair. It is important that we understand the position. My Department is highly focused on the implementation of key legislation like this. I have seen that where there is a little bit of political will behind something, we can move the ratification of an optional protocol reasonably quickly. We were able to do that with the disability one. I will ask my officials to start to reach out to other Departments and take the steps so that an interdepartmental group could be established rapidly.

Whoever is in this role next could look to progress that rapidly. We will come back to the Deputy in writing on the information campaign.