Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

As the Deputy will be aware, on 22 January, President Obama signed four Executive Orders concerning the closure of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and related matters. I warmly welcome this decisive and immediate move by the President. As I said in my immediate reaction to the news, it represents an historic new beginning in efforts to uphold and promote human rights and will be welcomed by all friends of the United States.

The relevant Executive Order states that Guantanamo is to close within one year and that appropriate arrangements will need to be made to deal with the remaining detainees either by prosecuting them, returning them to their home countries, releasing them or transferring them to a third country. The Executive Order directs the Secretary of State to seek international co-operation aimed at achieving the transfers of detainees.

Ireland, with our EU partners, has consistently called for the closure of Guantanamo and the bringing to trial or release of detainees held there. At yesterday's meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council, Foreign Ministers held an initial discussion of how European Union member states might approach the issue and strongly welcomed President Obama's move. It is, however, clear that there is a range of complex legal, practical and political issues to be worked through, primarily on the US side in the first instance. Nevertheless, I made clear that Ireland is ready in this new context to examine how we may be supportive of the United States Government as it proceeds towards the closure of Guantanamo.

While any decisions on resettlement are for each member state to take individually, a co-ordinated EU approach would be highly desirable. With the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, whose Department has responsibility for the reception and integration of citizens of third countries, I will keep the matter under review and, as necessary, will bring any specific proposals to Government. While there have as yet been no approaches from the new US Administration on the matter, I expect that it will feature in our future dialogue with it.

There were some discussions last year with the US authorities at official level in my Department and in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform regarding the possible acceptance by Ireland of detainees. Also, informal contacts with interested parties and lawyers representing one of these detainees have taken place. However, given President Obama's decision last Thursday, the context has clearly changed.

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