Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 61, 94, 111, 112, 114, 122 and 328 together.

The Government welcomes the second visit by UN special envoy Dr. Ibrahim Gambari to Burma on 3-8 November, and his report to the UN Security Council on 13 November. Dr. Gambari has been able to point to some progress, with the regime's continued co-operation with his mission, particularly its appointment of a liaison minister to meet with Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, and Ms Suu Kyi's own firm commitment to constructively pursue negotiations with the regime. We understand that a role for the UN in later substantive talks has not been ruled out.

Ms Suu Kyi has now had three meetings with the government's liaison minister, which are said to have been productive, and that is welcome. The regime has also allowed Ms Suu Kyi meet with other figures from the National League for Democracy and ethnic groups. However, she remains under house arrest, which is unacceptable, and it is vital that all restrictions on her be lifted to assist her in preparing for talks. Ireland's full commitment to Dr. Gambari's view that the burden is now on the Burmese Government to show it is moving in a positive direction has been made time and again by the Minister and me recently at the ASEAN conference.

The Government welcomes the visit to Burma by the UN special rapporteur on human rights, Mr. Pinheiro, on 11-15 November, after four years of refusals by the regime. The situation there is still unacceptable. While the special representative appears to have had good access to the authorities, we regret that limitations were placed on his meetings with non-government figures and arrests continued during his visit. We urge the Burmese authorities to co-operate fully with Mr. Pinheiro to develop the process.

The EU continues to follow closely developments in Burma. EU Foreign Ministers adopted a further set of conclusions on Burma on 19 November. At last week's ASEAN meeting in Singapore nine EU ministers took the floor to lead with comments on Burma and Ms Suu Kyi. Relevant EU bodies are doing more work to elaborate further restrictive measures, should they be necessary. While EU measures are important, the Government believes wider international measures are also needed. Regrettably, there is insufficient consensus in favour of such action among Security Council members, though we welcome the fact the Council continues to be engaged on the issue.

It has been the Government's consistent position that no steps will be taken to develop diplomatic relations with Burma until Ms Suu Kyi is released. While the issue was examined in 2004, on the basis of promised political and human rights progress by the Burmese authorities, including the release of Ms Suu Kyi, the lack of progress on these issues saw the process quickly stopped. Given the current situation, it would be unimaginable that, even were Ms Suu Kyi released, we would establish relations without significant and sustained improvements on the ground.

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