Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, for sharing time. I apologise for not being in the Chamber for the whole of his speech but I was attending the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting, paying tribute to my fellow Dubliner, the Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern. If I still sound sad and emotional, that is the reason.

I thank Deputy Timmins and the Fine Gael Party for their engagement on the cluster munitions issue, which is of high priority for the Government and on which the Minister for Foreign Affairs has personally taken a lead role. I fully support the Minister's course of action and his proposed amendment.

For several years, Ireland has expressed its concerns in the UN at the unacceptable consequences of the use of cluster munitions. The use of cluster munitions can be indiscriminate, harming civilians within range. Their high failure rate at impact creates an enduring hazard of unexploded ordnance, causing casualties long after the cessation of hostilities and making much land unusable. International humanitarian law does not adequately address these concerns. The lethal consequences of these weapons were recently apparent in southern Lebanon but have also affected south-east Asia, the Balkans and other theatres of war.

Our concern on this issue is inspired by our tradition of involvement in UN peacekeeping operations in the Lebanon, former Yugoslavia and Eritrea. There our troops were exposed to the hazards inherent in clearance of unexploded cluster munitions and witnessed the harm caused by them to civilians. Many brave peacekeepers from the Dublin South-West constituency have participated in these operations.

Cluster munitions were first used on the port of Grimsby during the Second World War. They subsequently formed part of NATO arsenals during the Cold War for possible defensive use in the event of a large-scale invasion from the East across the central European plains.

They were used on an enormous scale during the Vietnam War, with Laos, not even a declared participant in the war, becoming the most affected country in the world. It has over 9 million unexploded submunitions, many of which continue to cause casualties and remain to be cleared. There was also extensive use during the wars involving Iraq. In Israel's attempt in 2006 to counter Hizbollah operating from within Lebanon, some 4 million submunitions were fired into south Lebanon, leaving around 1 million unexploded individual submunitions on the ground.

Inspired by the process which led to the conclusion of the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, Norway convened a meeting of countries ready to explore ways to address this pressing humanitarian issue in a determined and effective manner. Recognising the grave consequences caused by the use of cluster munitions and the need for immediate action, 46 states gathered in Oslo in February 2007.

They adopted the Oslo declaration, which committed them to conclude by 2008 a legally binding international instrument that will "prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians". They also committed to co-operation and assistance for survivors and affected communities, clearance of affected areas and destruction of stockpiles. They agreed to consider steps at national level, pending adoption of a treaty.

Follow-up meetings in Lima, Vienna and Wellington saw the number of participating states grow to over 130. Many are also involved in the UN's convention on certain conventional weapons, the CCW process, and hope for a complementary approach in both fora. To date, the influence has been one-way, with Oslo stimulating discussion in the CCW, albeit without any concrete results. Apart from the fact that not all affected states are party to the CCW, its main difficulty is that decisions are taken by consensus, meaning there is little realistic prospect of users or producers agreeing to a meaningful treaty.

Ireland is one of seven states driving the Oslo process, along with Norway, Austria, New Zealand, Mexico, Peru and the Holy See. We have participated actively in the conferences in Oslo, Lima, Vienna and Wellington to identify the issues, clarify positions and formulate a draft treaty. Political momentum has grown significantly.

At the February conference in Wellington, more than 80 states immediately endorsed the Wellington declaration, which lays the foundation for the Dublin diplomatic conference to take place in Croke Park in May. Many more states are expected to indicate their support in the coming months and participate in the Dublin negotiations.

There are still significant differences to be resolved on key issues such as definitions, any possible period of transition to a ban and future military co-operation, including in UN-mandated missions with states not party to a convention. There is, however, reason to believe these can be resolved.

Prospective solutions for many less contentious issues have already emerged in the course of the earlier meetings in the process. It is important this process results in a text which will stand the test of time with technological developments, and capable of attracting adherents to gain critical mass.

I am confident we are on track for the adoption of a convention which will be comprehensive and effective and will get users, producers and states affected by cluster munitions on board. It is also our aim to establish a new norm of international humanitarian law which will influence the behaviour of every state engaged in conflict, regardless of whether they have ratified the convention. This has been the experience of the Ottawa convention in stigmatising the use of land mines even by states not party to it. We believe this experience can be emulated.

I wish the Minister well in dealing with this matter. I am happy to praise the two Wicklow Deputies across the Chamber who often travel through Tallaght. I wish them well in that regard.

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