Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 16, inclusive, together.

I received a personal invitation from the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, to attend the United Nations special summit on AIDS in New York in early June. The Secretary General expressed his gratitude for the important advocacy role Ireland has played with our European partners and for the significant resources we have provided to reverse the trends of the epidemic.

I had attended the first UN special session on HIV-AIDS in New York five years ago. At the time, Ireland, with the other member states, adopted a declaration of commitment on HIV-AIDS. In addition, I committed Ireland to increasing spending on the fight against HIV-AIDS to €30 million a year.

The purpose of this year's high level meeting was to review the progress achieved in realising the targets set out five years ago. The meeting was attended by Heads of State and Government and representatives from civil society and the private sector. I was accompanied by the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for development co-operation, Deputy Conor Lenihan.

In my address to the General Assembly, I stressed that the fight against AIDS remains one of the greatest challenges of our generation. I reiterated Ireland's commitment, made in September 2005, to increase Government expenditure on HIV and other poverty-related diseases to €100 million per year. I also reiterated the commitment of the Irish Government to reach the UN target of spending 0.7% of gross national product on official development assistance by 2012. This major scaling up of the Irish aid programme will allow Ireland to be at the forefront of the fight against HIV-AIDS.

I had a bilateral meeting with Secretary General, Kofi Annan. I presented him with a report of the Irish Government's response to the challenge of HIV-AIDS in developing countries from 2001 to 2006. This report clearly demonstrates that Ireland has lived up to the commitments we made five years ago. I stressed Ireland's determination to remain in the vanguard of the global response to HIV-AIDS. I also mentioned the Government's intention to publish Ireland's first White Paper on development co-operation.

The Secretary General thanked me for attending the high level meeting on HIV-AIDS and for our continued strong support for the UN campaign against the disease. He said that the UN could have no better partner than Ireland and thanked me for our efforts at EU level. He remarked that much had been achieved in the global campaign against HIV-AIDS but an effort was still needed to sensitise more world leaders.

The Secretary General also expressed gratitude for Ireland's willingness to extend the participation of our peacekeeping troops in Liberia until 2007. He hoped our commitment to peacekeeping operations in Africa would encourage other western countries to follow suit because many countries have been reluctant to send peacekeeping troops in recent years. I said that the Government would consider any request to send troops to Darfur in Sudan but we would not be in a position to do so until our mission in Liberia had ended.

The Secretary General and I also discussed international issues, including Iran and the Middle East. I expressed our full support for the efforts of the EU 3 to achieve a diplomatic settlement to the current dispute with Iran. The Secretary General stressed the importance that all sides, including the US and Iran, must come to the negotiating table without any preconditions.

On the Middle East, the Secretary General welcomed the efforts of President Abbas to secure the agreement of Hamas to negotiate with Israel on the basis of two states founded on the 1967 borders. He also expressed concern at the current serious humanitarian situation in the occupied territories.

While in New York, I attended a business lunch with senior Irish-American executives of US companies. I also attended various business related events organised by Enterprise Ireland.

I received a courtesy call from His Excellency, Mr. Mustafa Abubakar, the Governor of Aceh in Indonesia, on 17 May. It was a very brief but cordial meeting. Our discussion focused on the devastation of Indonesia by the tsunami of 2004 and the subsequent recovery work. The governor thanked Ireland for our generous contribution to the relief and recovery effort, and the ongoing contacts.

I did not attend the June European Council owing to the death of former Taoiseach, Charles J. Haughey. The Minister for Foreign Affairs attended the Council in my place. As I will make a statement on the Council shortly, I will at this stage merely give a summary account of its proceedings.

The June European Council considered a wide range of issues on the European agenda. In particular, it examined how Europe listens to and works for its citizens and how the future of European debate and the period of reflection on the European Constitution are to be carried forward. It is not possible to divorce the debate on the European Constitution from the day-to-day business of the Union. If we can convince people that their daily concerns are being met, if the broad economic climate in the Union improves and confidence recovers, and if we can create more jobs and give hope to the unemployed, the prospects for the European Constitution will improve.

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