Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

What response did the Minister receive to his letters to China and India? Is it correct that the Minister's predecessor established diplomatic relations with Burma during the Irish Presidency of the EU in 2004 on the basis the Burmese regime would promote democratisation and national reconciliation? Where stands the seven-step road map for democratisation that was set out? Does the Government have contact with the regime in Burma? Has the Minister been in contact with the EU in recent days because I am given to understand a UN expert on human rights will be allowed into Burma? Will he use his good offices to ensure such an expert can establish what happened to the monks who we believe were imprisoned and the several thousand political prisoners in the country and he or she will have the opportunity to speak to the leader of the Burmese opposition who is under house arrest?

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