Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

On behalf of all our colleagues and in particular those on my side of the House, I wish Deputy Michael Higgins a speedy recovery. We miss him from the Oireachtas. He has been a long-time friend and we hope he has a speedy return to full health as quickly as possible.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 2, 3 and 5 together.

Deputies will be aware that a central element of Ireland's foreign policy has been the promotion of an effective multilateral system and the strengthening of the rules-based international order, with the United Nations at its centre.

The Government believes it is essential that the members of the United Nations take action to enhance the effectiveness and legitimacy of the United Nations and to endow the UN with the means necessary to confront today's global threats and challenges. Promoting such reform was a priority of the European Union during Ireland's Presidency in the first half of 2004.

The House will also be aware that this is a crucial year for the United Nations as members prepare for the summit that will take place at the UN next September at which Heads of State and Government will seek to restore momentum to the achievement of the millennium development goals, to agree on reforms that will strengthen the system of collective security, to enhance the human rights function of the United Nations and to reform its institutions and management structures. It is a central priority for the Government to do what it can to promote the success of the summit.

As a practical and substantial contribution to this process, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, travelled to New York in February to assure the UN Secretary General of Ireland's readiness to do its upmost to support his reform agenda. Accordingly, the Minister is honoured to have been appointed by him as one of five envoys to act on his behalf in encouraging governments to take the decisions necessary to ensure a satisfactory outcome at the September summit. The appointment is an indication of the esteem in which Ireland is held by the Secretary General and of its track record of commitment to the United Nations.

As envoy, the task of the Minister for Foreign Affairs is to make the case in visits to European capitals for the broad package of recommendations and reforms set out in the UN Secretary General's recent report, In Larger Freedom. In doing so, he will work with the Secretary General and with UN members to overcome the obstacles and challenges that confront the reform agenda, which the Secretary General has described as "bold but achievable". The Secretary General has asked the Minister to focus his efforts on Europe. However, none of the envoys is confined in their activities to any one geographic area.

The work of the envoys is vital to the preparatory process as it is evident that success in September 2005 will require governments to step back from hitherto entrenched positions and take decisions in the wider interest of all members and the multilateral system that serves them. The work the envoys are carrying out with governments is intended to complement the dialogue and debate in which members' delegations in New York are engaged, under the guidance of the President of the General Assembly.

The Minister commenced his series of envoy visits shortly after his appointment by the Secretary General on 4 April and his subsequent briefing of his EU colleagues at the recent informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers. He has already met a number of foreign ministers, including those from within the European Union, as well as High Representative Javier Solana and the Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, BenitaFerrero-Waldner.

Deputies will understand that I am not in a position to comment on the contents of the Minister's meetings with his foreign minister colleagues. He has undertaken to convey the views expressed in his meetings to the UN Secretary General in strict confidence. The effectiveness of his mission, and that of the other envoys, demands that the exchanges remain confidential. The meetings to date have been productive, informative and of value to the Secretary General and his support team.

While the reform agenda is many faceted, one very difficult but important element, and one that receives most public attention, is that of reform of the Security Council. There is general acceptance that the 60-year-old structure of the council, which derives from the immediate post-war situation, is not in accord with today's realities. The high-level panel that reported to the UN Secretary General in December 2004 on measures to enhance collective security put forward two models for reform — model A, which would extend the membership in both categories, permanent and non-permanent, and model B, which would retain the current permanent members and would, in addition, create a new category of member, elected for four year renewable terms.

The Secretary General has not recommended either of these models to the membership, but has urged UN members to reach a decision this year on the expansion of the Security Council for the sake of its credibility and legitimacy. The Government shares this view and would support an arrangement capable of securing the widest necessary support among the wider UN membership, as long as it preserved the possibility for smaller countries like Ireland, which make substantial contributions to the work of the United Nations, to serve on the Security Council at reasonable intervals.

As regards the veto powers of the permanent members, Ireland in its contributions to the UN General Assembly's open-ended working group on Security Council reform has long called for restraint in the use of the veto and has urged that it be used only when the issue under discussion was of vital national interest, taking into account the interests of the UN as a whole.

The Minister greatly welcomes the interest the House has taken in the Government's support for the Secretary General's reform agenda and very much appreciates the support for his role expressed by colleagues in this House. I am deeply conscious of the strong support in Irish civil society and among the Irish public generally for the work of the United Nations. This is reflected in, among other things, strong support for the participation of the Defence Forces and the Garda in international peacekeeping and for Ireland's work at the UN in support of development, human rights and disarmament.

Given the widespread interest in the current debate on the role and future of the UN, we expect considerable public interest in the progress of discussion in the run-up to the September summit. In view of the importance attached in Ireland to the United Nations, I assure the House that the Minister is fully prepared to engage with the Oireachtas and the public on the various issues that will arise in the course of this discussion. He is ready to participate in a debate here should the House so desire and he also intends to arrange for consultations with the NGOs.

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