Ivor Callely (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 8: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the measures considered practical to address the ongoing genocide in Sudan; the progress by the UN or EU to try to find measures that will impact on the Sudanese Government; if targeted sanctions have been discussed and other such measures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4204/07]

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 27: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the political and security situation in Darfur; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3926/07]

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 79: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the latest diplomatic efforts being made by his Department to ensure that the Government of Sudan deals adequately with the United Nations in securing peace for the people of Darfur; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3939/07]

Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Question 92: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the recent diplomatic initiatives the Government has made in terms of the ongoing conflict in Sudan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4281/07]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 107: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position in Darfur; and the information he has available as to the deployment of an international force in the region. [4309/07]

Ivor Callely (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 197: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position regarding Sudan; if there are improvements in Sudan's human rights record; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4486/07]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 202: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which the international community can address the issues in Darfur; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4559/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to answer Questions Nos. 8, 27, 79, 92, 107, 197 and 202 together.

The Government is making use of all avenues, both bilaterally and through the EU, to focus urgent international attention on the crisis in Darfur and work towards a resolution, and it will continue to do so. Most recently, in my meetings in Cairo on 1 February, I discussed the situation with the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Aboul Gheit, and the Arab League Secretary General, Amr Mussa. I know that the Oireachtas is also deeply concerned, as reflected in the all-party motion passed on 28 November.

The UN and the African Union are co-ordinating international efforts to revitalise the May 2006 Darfur peace agreement and strengthen peacekeeping. The two organisations' special envoys for Darfur, Mr. Jan Eliasson and Dr. Salim Salim, are actively trying to get negotiations under way between the parties to the agreement and non-signatory rebel groups. The African Union's ceasefire observation mission in Darfur, AMIS, is being strengthened in a phased manner with UN support and is aimed at the deployment of a strong AU-UN hybrid force later this year. Already 100 UN military, police and civilian personnel are in place under the first phase of UN support. In December 2006 President Bashir of Sudan gave his approval in principle to that phased approach to strengthening AMIS. However, regrettably, he has not as yet specifically endorsed the deployment of the AU-UN hybrid force.

Since 2004, Ireland has provided over €16 million in emergency aid to Darfur, including €3 million for AMIS. A further €2.1 million in humanitarian support has been approved to date in 2007 and more financial support for AMIS is being considered. Three members of the Permanent Defence Forces serve in support of AMIS.

The security situation in Darfur remains very unstable. Ceasefire violations by all parties, including the unacceptable bombing of civilian sites by the Sudanese airforce, banditry and inter-tribal conflicts, are undermining efforts to revitalise the peace process and having dire humanitarian consequences. Currently, humanitarian access is at its lowest level since 2004. During 2006, some 500,000 more Darfurians were displaced and in January alone a further 25,000 were forced to flee. In that overall context, the work of the UN human rights assessment mission due on the ground in Darfur within days is of great importance.

I strongly condemn the murder of an AMIS police officer on 1 February and the recent increase in violent attacks on humanitarian workers, including international aid workers. If current efforts to revitalise the political process are to succeed, it is essential that all parties immediately halt the violence and abide by their ceasefire commitments.

The international community must, in particular, present a united front in demanding that the Sudanese Government and rebel groups negotiate without preconditions and co-operate fully in implementation of all three phases of the UN support for AMIS. The EU, for its part, has implemented a comprehensive arms embargo against Sudan since 1994 and applies individual sanctions against four individuals designated by the Security Council in Resolution 1591(2005). On 22 January, EU Foreign Ministers expressed their readiness to consider further measures, notably in the UN framework against any party that obstructs implementation of the phased approach to strengthening AMIS and to establishing the AU-UN hybrid force.

Sudan's 2005 interim national constitution guarantees respect for fundamental human rights, but implementation of its provisions is very uneven. The EU maintains regular dialogue with Sudan on human rights issues in an effort to address the situation.

I will continue to avail myself of every possible opportunity to emphasise the urgent need for unhindered provision of humanitarian support to all those in need in Darfur and the speedy deployment of a well resourced peacekeeping operation under UN auspices with a strong mandate to protect civilians. The current situation is simply unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Will the Minister indicate how effective is the peacekeeping arrangement? Can any means be found to co-operate with peacekeepers and are there sufficient deployments to clearly convince opposing factors that the violence and atrocities which have taken place must come to a halt?

How effective is the arms embargo and how well policed is it? To what extent has it been breached and the breaches identified? There is a degree of violence in the region and arms embargoes should apply to everybody if they are to be effective in cutting off supplies.

To what extent has the Minister, either directly or through the EU or UN, attempted to influence a settlement or recognition that violence must come to an end in the region?

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The AMIS supply is insufficient, as I saw for myself when I travelled to El Fasher, one of the major towns in Darfur. I met with the commanders of the AMIS and saw that it was too small a force for too large an area. The area in question is approximately one and half times the size of France. This was one reason I very strongly urged our EU counterparts to use all our influence, even if it meant a plan B. In conjunction with the Danish Foreign Minister, I stated that we should consider other options against the Sudanese Government.

Thankfully, events have moved on since then as the UN, and Kofi Annan in particular, has been instrumental in at least getting an acknowledgement and understanding from President al-Bashir with regard to the three-phased approach. The UN is already looking for personnel from various countries and a number of nations have indicated they would be willing to participate in the second phase, provided they are allowed in.

It is not an easy issue with which to deal. I saw for myself a demand by the international community to send in the UN, but it is not that simple. Out on the ground one can see why it is not as easy as sending in troops from Ireland or anywhere else in the world. There is incredible suspicion there not just from the Sudanese Government, but also from a broad spectrum of people, that this is in some way an effort by the international community — specifically some countries — to destabilise the Sudanese Government.

One reason I stopped in Egypt for six hours on my recent visit was as a result of discussions I had here with President Mubarak and Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit when they visited Dublin. I got the general feeling from President Mubarak in particular that this issue needed to be handled sensitively and in such a way that rather than the issue being forced and not getting the desired result with the Sudanese Government, it was better to discuss it with like-minded countries who understand the psyche of the Sudanese Government. The Egyptian view was confirmed by a number of countries, including South Africa, representatives of which I spoke to in New York in September.

The process is moving ever so slowly but it is going in the right direction. Before I travelled I spoke to Jan Eliasson, a good friend of Ireland who is the former Swedish Foreign Minister and current special representative of the UN Secretary General. He appreciated our strong support on the issue and our strong articulation of the difficulties in Darfur. He stated that his job and that of the special envoy of the EU was to try to bring the non-signatories of the peace agreement into the fold, which might require some additional assistance from the international community. As long as those parties are outside the deal, it would appear that the violence will continue.

That may even mean the international community will have to put money on a plate in order to deal with the issue of compensation, a significant matter for those who have been displaced.

Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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The Minister's reply was comprehensive. It has been pointed out by some of those interested in advancing peace in the region that there is some progress when there is an international presence which stays on at the talks. In that regard, is there a possibility that some structure could be put in place towards advancing the peace process?

The point has been made with regard to those who are outside the southern Sudanese agreement that when there is an international presence, it stops people moving back into their absolute dispositions of non-co-operation.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I entirely agree with the Deputy about the international presence. That is a reason the UN assessment mission is going on the ground in the next few days, following on from visits by Jan Eliasson. Much progress was made at the recent African Union meeting in Addis Ababa.

I exhorted our colleagues at the EU table, long before it was first mooted, that it was perhaps incongruous that President al-Bashir would be the chairperson of the African Union from 1 January this year while this difficulty was occurring within his own country. He was part of the solution and his government part of the problem. I welcome the position of the African Union, which is dealing with this difficult and sensitive issue. People here think the Iraqi problem is bad but this could flare up in all our faces if it is not dealt with properly and could become another war on another front in the African continent.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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The Minister yesterday stated he was not into gestural politics. What concrete action is being proposed by the Government to tackle the Darfur crisis? In particular, does the Minister still believe we should be backing tougher international action against Sudan, including a British proposal for a no-fly zone over Darfur, which he earlier supported? Will the Minister elaborate on the type of sanction he believes would be effective, or how such a no-fly zone would operate?

Has the Minister considered that Ireland has, via the National Pensions Reserve Fund, unethical investments in Sudan? According to the Sudan Divestment Task Force, which had a letter printed in this week's The Irish Times, Ireland has invested €460 million in companies operating in Sudan, including an Indian energy consortium and Chinese oil firm PetroChina. All of these have documented complicity with those directing the terror against Darfur.

Will the Minister speak to the Minister for Finance on the issue, or would this not be a concrete action? Is this not the type of action to be proposed by the Minister instead of the gestures of which he accuses others?

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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As usual, Deputy Gormley must be a little divisive.

Concrete action is €16 million in humanitarian aid. Every time there is a request, whether to help AMIS or people on the ground in need of humanitarian assistance, the Government has been forthcoming. That is concrete action, apart from any political involvement.

I would safely say there has been no Foreign Minister as vigilant and busy on this issue as I in that I was the first Minister to go into Darfur after the peace agreement. I think I am the only Minister to go into a displacement camp, which I saw for myself was hell on earth, so that I could articulate clearly to the rest of my colleagues the type of difficulties these people faced. As I stated, I went out of my way to go to Egypt to continue my discussions on the ground with the Egyptians, who have a particular point of view given that they are neighbours in this area. Those are not gestures but work by us, as a small nation within the EU and within the UN, through which we endeavour to articulate a crisis happening on our doorstep.

The divestment of Irish funds from Sudan is an issue we raised with the National Pensions Reserve Fund. Deputy Gormley would be the first one hopping up and down complaining about involvement by us in the independent statutory obligations of the National Pensions Reserve Fund board.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Quite the opposite, I call on the Minister to do it.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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We passed legislation which gave them the authority, independent of Government, to control and manage the fund of investment. The fund is a founder signatory to the principles of responsible investment launched by the UN Secretary General in April last. It is committed to a process of change that would enable it to take account of ethical questions in its investment decisions.

The fund is now going to considerable expense to ensure scrutiny and oversight when it comes to these particular issues. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, met with the Sudan Divestment Campaign on 9 November and with the National Pension Reserve Fund on 14 December 2006 to give a political view on this issue.

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Are they listening?

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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They are listening. They are bringing their internal procedures up to speed. Shareholdings previously managed by external fund management companies are now being brought back under the direct supervision of the National Pensions Reserve Fund. That means it will have greater control and it will be spending considerable amounts of money to ensure it is present at shareholder gatherings such as AGMs where these issues may arise. The fund is trying to act not merely in accordance with the spirit, but in accordance with the letter of the principles the UN. It is taking on considerable cost to ensure that such is the case.