Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The Deputy has raised two questions, the first of which relates to the transition to democracy in Libya. Clearly, the Government supports the transition and moves towards democracy in Libya. For this to happen, the Gaddafi regime will have to be replaced. However, UN Security Council Resolution 1973 is not based on regime change. It was adopted to protect the civilian population in Libya and, therefore, actions taken under resolution 1973 must be confined to the protection of the civilian population. They do not extend to regime change. In circumstances where there are no threats to the civilian population and the people in Libya are free to protest and agitate for change of the regime, Ireland supports that effort and the transition to democracy. It must be clearly stated that resolution 1973 did not comprehend regime change. It is confined to the protection of civilians, on which our support for implementation of that resolution is based.

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