Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The Irish United Nations Association, IUNA, is a non-governmental organisation based in Dublin whose objectives are to promote the aims and activities of the United Nations and its specialised agencies in Ireland.

IUNA received funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs to achieve these objectives from 1972 onwards, with €60,000 allocated for this purpose in 2009. In addition to providing this funding, my Department has provided support to IUNA in terms of advice on strategy and internal governance procedures. In the period 2007 to 2008, my Department, in co-operation with IUNA, conducted two extensive reports on the association. A series of recommendations were produced identifying reforms geared to better enabling IUNA to fulfil its mandate.

Following a review of departmental expenditure in 2009, and taking into account the recommendations of the McCarthy report that in the current very difficult budgetary circumstances funding for IUNA should cease, no allocation for grant-in-aid to IUNA was made for 2010. Furthermore, there is no proposal to resume funding to IUNA in future years. This position has been communicated to IUNA by my Department and the association is proceeding on this basis.

While this is a matter for IUNA, the immediate priority for the association should be reform of its structures and procedures, in line with the recommendations set out in the review and audit of the association undertaken on behalf of the Department in 2007 and 2008. I encourage the association to seek to engage with private donors following on from implementation of the necessary structural and procedural reforms recommended in these reports, including efforts to expand its membership base.

Promoting public understanding and knowledge of the United Nations is a goal that the Government, through its long-standing support for and commitment to the United Nations, actively pursues on an ongoing basis through its national and international policies. Our strong support for the promotion and protection of human rights, our long tradition of participating in UN-mandated peace operations, our leading role internationally in disarmament and non-proliferation issues and the work of Irish Aid in alleviating poverty and combating global hunger all provide good examples of how the Government demonstrates its commitment to the UN and, in turn, helps to promote awareness of the UN's indispensable role in addressing issues of global concern.

See this speech in context