Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I agree with Deputy Timmins's concern and anger at the situation in Zimbabwe. We have conveyed our concerns directly to the governments of key partner countries in Africa and, most recently, in December, the Irish ambassador to Zimbabwe, who is based in Pretoria, communicated Ireland's strong views to the Zimbabwean ambassador there. I have made my views personally known to the South African ambassador in Dublin and they are well aware of our views.

We believe it is at EU level that we can leverage the maximum influence. However, the problem is of course that while we have sanctions against named individuals and companies which are targeted at those who are propping up the regime, in essence it is the considered view of the EU partners that ultimately it is the regional partners who can exert the greatest degree of influence on, and exact the leverage over, President Mugabe.

We are not satisfied with the SADC approach to date. It seems to us that yesterday an attempt was made to force the MDC and Tsvangirai into a position to accept what was on offer. We are not entirely comfortable with that approach. We are not confident that the formula outlined, particularly in terms of the portfolios that the MDC would get, would be a sustainable and viable proposition for good governance in Zimbabwe.

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