Sodexo launches Ireland’s first Modern Slavery Council

Workplace services provider Sodexo Ireland has founded and launched Ireland’s first Modern Slavery Council.

More than 60 representatives attended the launch at Sodexo Ireland’s headquarters in Dublin on Tuesday 29th April 2025, including delegates from government agencies, multinational companies such as Nestlé, and academic institutions including Maynooth University.

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The Ireland Modern Slavery Council is a cross-industry collaboration bringing together public and private sector organisations to take meaningful action in addressing modern slavery in Ireland. The Council aims to raise awareness, share best practices, and support aligned efforts alongside An Garda Síochána, the Workplace Relations Commission, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, non-profit organisations, academia and relevant government departments and agencies.
Modern slavery is defined as the recruitment, movement, harbouring or receiving of children, women or men through the use of force, coercion, abuse of vulnerability, deception or other means for the purpose of exploitation. 

The launch featured talks from Tim Nelson from Hope 4 Justice and Slave-Free Alliance, offering a global perspective on modern slavery; Detective Sergeants Alan P Lynch and John C Ryan from An Garda Siochana’s Human Trafficking Investigation and Co-ordination Unit providing insight into the current landscape of modern slavery and human trafficking in Ireland;  Enda Murphy from the Workplace Relations Commission, Ingrid De Doncker from Future Planet and Cliodhna Murphy from Maynooth University who teaches and researches migration and human rights.

The Ireland Modern Slavery Council will meet three times a year to raise awareness of modern slavery, create and share resources to tackle it, and distribute these resources across business networks in Ireland. This will help ensure that organisations can effectively manage risk and take action against the perpetrators of this crime.

 The Council will also act as a focal point for communication with government departments and other relevant bodies and will work to ensure slavery or human trafficking is not taking place within members’ operations in the Republic of Ireland or throughout their supply chains.
David Fox, managing director, Sodexo Ireland, said: Sodexo is recognised as a thought and market leader in tackling modern slavery and this initiative marks a major step forward in raising awareness of exploitation in Ireland and creating opportunities for collaboration with other organisations to expand and strengthen this important work.

We look forward to using our scale our scale and our influence to expand others’ knowledge and capabilities, and collaborate through the private and public landscapes, to make a real difference in tackling modern slavery in Ireland.

Thank you to our exceptional group of speakers who shared their insights into the realities of modern-day slavery and how it can be present in our local supply chains, communities and industries.  Through this Council, we aim to drive real change by creating a strong, collaborative platform that sets and upholds high standards,” Fox continued.

Nestlé has joined the Ireland Modern Slavery Council and Robin Sundaram, community regeneration lead, Nestlé UK & Ireland said: Modern slavery is not just a distant issue — it can be present in local supply chains, communities, and industries. We need collective, data-driven action to identify and address it. I am proud to support the Ireland Modern Slavery Council as a space where innovation, transparency, and collaboration can thrive to create real systemic change."
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The Ireland Modern Slavery Council reflects Sodexo’s continued leadership in addressing modern slavery. It builds on the success of the Business Services Association (BSA)* Modern Slavery Council in the UK, founded by Sodexo in 2022 that now includes over 30 member organisations and collaborates with key bodies including the Cabinet Office, Home Office, GLAA, Slave-Free Alliance, and others.
 Sodexo is a signatory to the UN Global Compact and upholds human rights as defined in the International Bill of Human Rights and ILO principles.

Pictured l/r are Aoife Wycherley, Sodexo’s head of supply chain and head of food procurement, David Fox, managing director, Sodexo Ireland;  Sonia Mangat, head of responsible sourcing at Sodexo and Tim Nelson,  co-founder and CEO of Hope for Justice and Slave-Free Alliance.  The Council is a cross-industry collaboration bringing together public and private sector organisations to take meaningful action in addressing modern slavery in Ireland.  Photography: Conor Healy / Picture It Photography.