Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I am pleased to have this opportunity to address the Dáil today in my capacity as Chairperson-in-Office of the OSCE, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Ireland assumed the chairmanship of this important multilateral organisation for the first time on 1 January. As chairperson, I bear overall responsibility for the executive action of the OSCE. My responsibilities include supervision of activities with regard to conflict prevention, post-conflict rehabilitation and providing leadership when crises arise within the OSCE's geographical area.

With 56 participating states and a population of over 1 billion, the OSCE is the world's largest inter-governmental regional security organisation. It is an immense honour and responsibility to chair this organisation. Ireland is reaping several benefits from this role, including a significantly raised international profile. It is enhancing the reputation Ireland has for diplomacy, crisis management and expanding our conflict resolution and human rights expertise - both key features of our foreign policy.

I would like to acknowledge the important contribution made by the Irish members of the OSCE parliamentary assembly, headed by Deputy Eoghan Murphy. The parliamentary assembly plays a vital role in facilitating inter-parliamentary dialogue. Its key role in election monitoring is widely recognised and many members, past and present, of the Oireachtas have served on OSCE election monitoring missions. I have met with the president and secretary general of the parliamentary assembly on a number of occasions in the past 12 months or so and I look forward to continued co-operation throughout the year.

I wish to provide an update to the House on chairmanship developments across the three policy areas of the OSCE, namely, the politico-military dimension, the economic and environmental dimension and the human dimension, which covers human rights and fundamental freedoms. Ireland has traditionally attached particular importance to the human rights dimension of the OSCE and, in keeping with the central focus of Irish foreign policy on human rights and democratic values, has proposed an ambitious agenda in this area for our chairmanship-in-office.

The OSCE's comprehensive security concept, dating back to the 1975 Helsinki Act, considers the human dimension of security - the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms, democratic institutions and the rule of law - to be as important for the maintenance of peace and stability as the politico-military or economic dimensions. In order to advance implementation of OSCE human dimension commitments, a package of eight events was agreed on 21 March. The package includes meetings in Vienna and Warsaw on the following topics: combating racism, intolerance and discrimination in society through sport; democratic elections and election observation; freedom of assembly and association; a rule of law framework for combating trafficking in human beings; freedom of religion or belief; empowerment of Roma women; and rights of persons belonging to national minorities. Ireland also plans to organise a small number of side events during the human dimension implementation meeting in Warsaw in October-November, addressing topics which traditionally receive scant attention in the OSCE, but which we consider crucial, such as the protection of human rights defenders.

An additional event, the Dublin Conference on Internet Freedom, is to be held in Dublin Castle on 18-19 June, and will be one of the highlights of the chairmanship. It is hoped to gather over 200 OSCE delegates, members of civil society and representatives of the ICT and media sectors to discuss how best to ensure compliance with OSCE commitments on freedom of expression and freedom of the media. Today, the Internet and other connective technologies have given citizens in the OSCE region and throughout the world a new platform for the exercise of their right to freedom of opinion and expression. Regrettably, some governments are limiting these freedoms, contrary to their OSCE commitments and other international human rights obligations. Practices such as illicit monitoring, filtering and blocking of websites, as well as intimidation and arrest of bloggers and Internet activists are unacceptable, just as it is unacceptable to illegally monitor telephone conversations or arrest newspaper editors for expressing their opinions. By exploring international obligations, examining best practices and discussing other related issues such as Internet access and governance, it is hoped to move towards a greater common understanding on how to strengthen Internet freedom. In doing so, we will also seek to showcase Ireland as the Internet capital of Europe, taking advantage of the presence here of so many industry leaders in Internet and new media technologies, such as Google, Facebook and Twitter.

A key role for the OSCE, within the human dimension, is to help to ensure that election processes run smoothly and are held under free and fair conditions. I am pleased to report that the OSCE agreed, at very short notice, to assist with ballot facilitation to allow eligible voters in Kosovo to vote in the 6 May Serbian parliamentary and presidential elections. I personally was involved in helping to broker the agreement and am very pleased to report that restraint was shown by all parties, which allowed for the peaceful conduct of the OSCE-run balloting facilitation in Kosovo on 6 May. Full co-operation was offered by the local institutions and the international community, in particular KFOR and EULEX. I share the view of the Secretary General of the OSCE, who has welcomed the achievement of the mission in Kosovo, as well as the assistance offered by other OSCE field missions in the region, and said that the outcome has shown the OSCE at its very best. The same facilitation arrangement will apply to the second round of the presidential election on 20 May.

As the world's largest regional security organisation, the OSCE continues to play an important role in ensuring peace, stability and security in our region. The confidence and security building measures adopted within the politico-military dimension remain central to the enhancement of security within the OSCE area. Our priority, when holding the chair, is to see continued progress on updating these measures and on enhancing the conflict prevention capacity of the organisation. The collective goal of the organisation, as agreed at the 2010 Astana summit, is to work towards a genuine Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security community, rooted in agreed principles, shared commitments and common goals. With a view to working towards this security community, we have called on participating states to reflect on the building blocks available to us in the areas of arms control, conflict prevention and resolution and transnational threats. This will be the theme for the annual security review conference to be held in Vienna in June.

One of our chairmanship priorities in this dimension is the establishment of an informal working group on cyber security. I am pleased to report that we succeeded in reaching agreement on this last week. Our aim is to increase the role and contribution of the OSCE in the field of cyber security and the working group will be mandated to elaborate a set of confidence building measures on risk reduction, transparency and attribution, with a view to reducing the risk of misidentification of a cyber incident. Ensuring a safe and secure cyber environment is of the utmost importance, as cyber threats have the potential to endanger our national security, public safety and economic competitiveness.

I hosted a high-level conference in Dublin on 27 April, entitled, Shared Future: Building and Sustaining Peace, the Northern Ireland case study. This event brought together over 200 delegates from across the area covered by the OSCE and provided them with a unique opportunity to listen to the experiences of a range of senior political figures with first-hand experience of the peace process. I was joined by, among others, First Minister, Peter Robinson, MLA, Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, MLA and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Owen Paterson, MP. We also heard from former US Senator, George Mitchell, whose chairing of the negotiations leading to the Good Friday Agreement was central to the achievement of political settlement on this island. In addition, we had a video message from US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. All five of the main parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly were represented at the conference. The former President of Finland and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Martti Ahtisaari, acted as moderator, bringing his unique experience of conflict resolution and mediation to bear on what were frank and open discussions. This was the first time the Government has organised an event of this kind. What I hope we have achieved, by drawing on our own recent experience of conflict, is the ability to offer support and encouragement to those striving for peace beyond these shores. Feedback has already been extremely positive and I am pleased it is being recognised as a unique and worthwhile contribution by Ireland, in our role as chair-in-office.

Within the economic and environmental dimension, Ireland's core theme is the promotion of security and stability through good governance. Ireland's ratification last year of the UN Convention against Corruption signals our determination to further international co-operation in this area. During the two preparatory conferences held to date as part of the economic and environmental forum process, we focused in particular on measures to counter corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing. In this regard we have highlighted the work of the Criminal Assets Bureau as a model for other participating states to consider. We have also explored the linkages between transparency and socio-economic development. Good governance and transparency are central to developing stable and sustainable economies, whereas ineffective governance clearly undermines economic development.

As chairperson, I am working with others to promote lasting settlements to a number of conflicts in the OSCE area. Drawing on usual practice, I have appointed two special representatives to assist me in this regard. Ambassador Padraig Murphy is the special representative for the south Caucasus; Ambassador Erwan Fouéré is special representative for the Transdniestrian settlement process. I am pleased to report that we have been able to make some progress in the so-called 5+2 talks on the Transdniestrian settlement process. Agreement has been reached on the principles and procedures for the negotiating process and on the agenda of substantive issues which will need to be addressed in the negotiations. The first 5+2 talks under our chairmanship took place at Farmleigh House on 28 to 29 February. Those discussions were constructive, with the participants agreeing to establish a regular rhythm of meetings throughout the year.

Regarding the protracted conflicts in the south Caucasus, namely, those dealt with in the Geneva discussions that were set up after the August 2008 war in Georgia and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, we always knew progress would be difficult to achieve. On the Geneva discussions, the fact that the participants are meeting regularly is positive. In addition to the meetings in Geneva, regular meetings on the ground, co-facilitated on my behalf by Ambassador Murphy, have played an important role in preventing and responding to incidents, and improving the safety and security of local residents. On the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, I regret to say there has been a flare up of incidents recently on the line of contact as well as on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. It is unfortunate it has not yet proved possible to find agreement on confidence-building measures suggested by the co-chairs of the Minsk Group, the OSCE body which deals with this conflict. During the year, I hope to visit the region and talk to some of those involved with these conflicts.

The key event of the year is the OSCE ministerial meeting which will take place in Dublin in early December. It will be the largest gathering ever of Foreign Ministers in Ireland. The ministerial meeting represents the main opportunity to agree decisions at political level in the various policy priority areas. It is too early to say at this stage what output we might expect. We intend to focus our energies on securing agreement on a small number of decisions on key topics which have been prioritised during the year.

I assure the House I am working hard to progress the principles and aims of the OSCE. It is an honour, for me personally, and for Ireland, to have such a multilateral commitment for the year. Given the achievements to date, I am confident that, through effective co-operation, 2012 will be a positive year for the OSCE.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge the Tánaiste's contribution and his comments in opening this debate. I welcome the opportunity to speak on Ireland's chairmanship of the OSCE. It is an opportunity to reflect upon the progress across Europe in which the organisation has played such a significant role in the past decades. It is also a chance for us to size up the difficulties the OSCE currently faces across the Continent, and consider how best to meet them. Furthermore, it is a moment to discuss and analyse emerging threats and future challenges the OSCE will confront in the coming years.

I point to the strengths of the history of the OSCE in the collapse of communism and the entrenchment of democracy and human rights, its most positive legacy. I also wish to highlight thepersistence of human rights abuses in certain states across the region. We must call upon the governments concerned to ensure that the highest democratic and human rights standards prevail in the spirit of the origins of the OSCE, the Helsinki Accords. These issues and the need to develop forums for inter-state dialogue should inform the goals and priorities of Ireland's chairmanship of the OSCE.

It is difficult for our generation to imagine the background against which the OSCE was created and the leap forward it represented at the time. However, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. The world in 1975 was still dominated by what Marx called "the spectre of communism". Churchill's powerful description: "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent", still rang all too true in the 1970s. Under the shadow of the eastern bloc, western Europe had marshalled together to form the EEC. The military NATO alliance provided a nuclear blanket against the Warsaw Pact countries on the other side of the ideological divide. The underlying omnipresent threat was the very real and present danger of nuclear war between east and west. In an effort to escape the politics of perpetual confrontation, the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, CSCE, was created to serve as a multilateral forum for dialogue and negotiation between east and west. Meetings between Brezhnev, his Warsaw Pact allies and western leaders stretched out over a two-year period, flitting between Finland and Switzerland.

The ultimate outcome was the agreement on the Helsinki Final Act, which was signed on 1 August 1975. This document contained a number of key commitments on politico-military, economic and environmental and human rights issues that became central to the so-called Helsinki Process. This was the real beginnings of the OSCE and its central role in the development of Europe. These accords were a seminal moment in the collapse of communism. As the late acclaimed historian,Tony Judt, noted, the Helsinki Accords were a crowbar that prised open the cold prison of Soviet thought. The origins of the OSCE established a language of human rights, one that did not provide a smokescreen for the ossified Soviet regime, as Brezhnev had hoped. Rather, it gave dissidents across Eastern Europe the tools with which to chip away at totalitarianism. Today, the OSCE can draw inspiration from the impact created by the Helsinki Process.

The rise of Solidarity in Poland, the dissent activity of Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia and the glasnost policy of Gorbachev all came after the initial impact of the Helsinki Accords. The entrenchment of human rights through the accords played a significant role in the process that culminated in the fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the ideological chasm that divided and defined post-war Europe. This represents the real strength of the OSCE and its potential in shaping Europe for the better.

The Charter of Paris for a New Europe launched a new era for the CSCE, to play a central role in managing the historic change taking place in Europe and respond to the new challenges of the post-Cold War period. This process saw the establishment of permanent institutions and an ever-evolving role in a dynamic environment that stands in stark contrast to the frozen, binary, political topography of the Cold War era. It is to this utterly transformed political situation I now look.

Security is at the core of the OSCE but we agree with the three-dimensional approach taken by the organisation. In our view, democratisation, as prominent scholars such as Fukuyama and Robert Dahl have pointed out, is inextricably bound up with peace. Democracies are the basis of legitimate government and do not go to war against each other. These twin goals of the OSCE go together, hand in hand. The Irish chairmanship should reflect the idea that free partnerships between free people should be the basis of international relations.

Fianna Fail's political allies in Europe, the ELDR, will meet in Yerevan this weekend following another flawed Armenian election last Saturday. Voters were pressurised into supporting the Government while other parties struggled to compete on an uneven playing field. Reports of widespread interference with the running of polling stations, voters' movement and casting of votes throughout the day by certain political parties have raised serious questions and concerns. The battle for democratisation is still going on in Armenia and across other countries in Europe struggling to come out of the shadow of authoritarianism.

In this struggle, the OSCE must take centre stage. It has made significant strides in Armenia and was there this week to expose the resilient shortcomings of the system. From Pristina to Moscow, there is a pressing need for engaged, active observers willing to look behind the curtain to find out what is really going on. The bells and whistles of democracy have been adapted by even the most stubborn of authoritarian regimes. The real challenge is to see what actually lies behind constitutions and the appearance of democracy to find out if real democratic standards are being fully adhered to.

In this light, it is important that the OSCE ensures the integrity of the observer system is maintained and unquestionable. It is also vital that the observers are fully trained and equipped to meet the problems of accurately observing elections in the face of potentially hostile and evasive authorities. Supports must be given to victims of human rights abuse and the freedom of the press, a cornerstone of a free society, must be fully maintained. By holding their 56 participant Governments to their word and operating on the ground to test the strength of their commitments, the OSCE keeps the spirit of the Helsinki Accords alive.

Russian troops pouring across the border into Georgian-controlled South Ossetia in 2008 was a jarring sight for many Europeans. Their last experience of full-blown conflict in the area had been the NATO intervention in Kosovo in 2000. The threat of violence remains in traditionally volatile regions such as the Caucuses and the Balkans, which have sparked off broader conflagrations. The Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker gives us hope that we can emerge from the mire of conflict. He points to the decline of war as an everyday fact for the majority of people and the massive reduction in the number of deaths through conflict that previously haunted Europe. For instance, the number of deadliest wars - those that kill at least 1,000 people a year - has fallen by 78% since 1988. The OSCE has a pivotal role to play in sustaining this progress.

Its work should continue to focus on disputed areas such as Kosovo, Georgia and other deeply divided areas in the Caucuses. Simmering tensions linger and require a significant investment of time and energy by the international community. The OSCE has played an important role in managing conflict and ensuring that Europe has not slid back into the endemic "feuds of a thousand years" that Churchill lamented.

While the focus of the OSCE is on its core security function, the work takes on other facets that should be supported. The OSCE exercises a number of important roles in education, tackling corruption, combating terrorism and promoting economic growth. The roles complement the work of the OSCE in its central security work and are a pivotal part of consolidating the stability of the Continent.

It is worth reflecting on what challenges the future may bring to the OSCE. The past few decades have witnessed the pace of history accelerate. Eric Honecker said in 1989 that the Berlin Wall would last another 100 years; it lasted another ten months. Things change more quickly than we can imagine. Geopolitical shifts represent clear challenges to the OSCE security goals. The relative decline of the USA in comparison to the BRIC countries, China in particular, will shift influence away from the dominance of America over the past two decades. The changing role of NATO as the US extricates itself from an expensive defence arrangement will have a direct impact on the OSCE, for which it needs to be prepared.

The crisis engulfing the eurozone and the crisis of faith in the European project will define the EU for the next number of years. Any changes in the nature of the Union from the Schengen Agreement to mutual defence arrangements will have a direct impact on the role of the OSCE and the prospects for co-operation between European states. The future of the OSCE is inextricably bound up with the fate of the European project.

The Caucuses hold crucial supply lines for oil and gas to Europe. Their strategic importance will increase, particularly if alternative cheap sources are not developed, over the coming years. If the OSCE does not develop a coherent approach to addressing the stability and security oil and gas supply lines in these extremely volatile regions, future conflicts are inevitable.

These current and future issues form the backdrop to Ireland's chairmanship of the OSCE, which gives us a chance to play a leading role in developing a strong, coherent response to the challenges. Working in conjunction with our Lithuanian and Ukrainian counterparts as part of the OSCE troika, it is our moment to drive on the work of the OSCE. Our predecessors in the role, Lithuania, initiated a comprehensive, informal dialogue on Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security. This dialogue included informal ambassadorial discussions based on the style and spirit of the Corfu process, which was originally introduced by the former chairmanships of Kazakhstan and Greece. These types of discussions have been the result of innovations by the past few chairmanships and now form the bedrock for dialogue between regional states. The OSCE is the only regional organization that draws together all states in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian areas underneath a comprehensive security concept. The range of dialogue introduced by our predecessors in the chairmanship role builds on the experience of the OSCE and its position as a platform for negotiation between states. Our chairmanship should seek to build upon that legacy and add further innovations in strengthening interstate dialogue.

I welcome the holding of a one day conference last month on the lessons to be learned from the Northern Irish peace process. Inevitably, there are limitations to using lessons from one very specific conflict in a particular context. Nevertheless, there is real potential for employing our experience in Northern Ireland across other divided regions. The technical processes of peace building, the style of meetings, the nature of the compromises reached and the long, arduous and halting journeys towards resolution are globally applicable. Through the OSCE we should continue to build upon our work to help other profoundly divided societies ravaged by violence.

One pressing matter we are in a position to raise and confront is the current perilous state of democracy and human rights in the Ukraine. The recent photographs of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko beaten up in her prison cell should disturb any democrat. The Ukraine is currently working in conjunction with Ireland as part of the chairmanship troika and will hold the chair of the OSCE next year. The systematic assault of basic democratic and human rights values under President Viktor Yanukovich mark a rolling back of progress made under the Orange revolution. Freedom House ranks the Ukraine as only partly free and has highlighted a number of human rights and political abuses. As chair of the OSCE handing over the reins to the Ukraine next year, Ireland should highlight the concerns. I am sure the Tánaiste shares them and I would like to hear his response on the matter.

Working through the OSCE, Ireland can and should use its experience in peace building. We must not shy away from the democratic impetus of the OSCE that underpins its security function. Endemic electoral difficulties in fledgling states must be tackled and, specifically, the current situation in the Ukraine must be addressed. The OSCE should continue to be at the heart of building a peaceful Europe drawing on its historic impact in the demise of the totalitarian Soviet bloc to drive on the democratisation of the region. The future challenges of maintaining peace in a changing Europe, a small continent in a globalised dynamic world, will test the OSCE. As chair, Ireland should develop a coherent response and continue to develop forums for meaningful interstate dialogue. At the core should be the goal of consolidating and building on the democratisation of Europe, the key value of our Republic, which will be the key to ensuring future peace and stability. I wish the Tánaiste well and hope he can make worthwhile progress as chair.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Cosúil leis an cainteoir deireannach, ba mhaith liom ádh mór a ghuí ar an Tánaiste sa bhliain atá roimhe. Is dúshlán mór é don Tánaiste agus d'Éire an post seo a chomhlíonadh chomh maith agus is féidir leo agus chomh maith agus a ligfear dóibh. Beidh tairbhe le fáil as, ní hamháin do na tíortha lena mbeidh siad ag cuidiú le linn an tréimhse ach d'Éire amach anseo ó thaobh na honóra atá bronnta ar Éire mar chathaoir ar an eagras rí-thábhachtach seo. In ainneoin aon argóint nó díospóireacht maidir le caiteachas agus a leithéid, táim sásta tacaíocht a thabhairt an ról seo a chur chun cinn.

To follow on from my last point, I commend the work of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and its funding of €150 million is money well spent. My only criticism is that much of this work should have been done by the UN for many years. However, this was not possible due to the restrictions imposed by some on the UN's ability to work and the failure by some governments over time to fully enhance the work of the UN.

It is an honour for Ireland to chair the organisation which has more than 500 employees and many operations throughout the European Union and beyond in partnership with other countries who are not full members. It is a forum for dialogue and negotiation. The Tánaiste referred in his contribution to the recent conference which is an example of Ireland sharing with other countries the experiences of the Irish peace process, including the mistakes to be avoided. However, the key point is that our process was ultimately successful well beyond the initial expectations of many. The conference was attended by Senator George Mitchell and Martti Ahtisaari and they related their experiences in Ireland and in other places. I am confident the Tánaiste, in his term as chairman, will expound the message that dialogue works. If nothing else we have learned in Ireland that although we have our differences both in this Chamber and with regard to the shared histories on this island and on the politics of the future, that conflict is the result if one is not willing to talk. One of the key lessons is that no conflict is intractable. Anyone looking at Ireland 30 years ago would have questioned what hope existed for peace in Ireland. We have come a long way very quickly and there are many other international examples of intractable conflicts being resolved to some degree with an ability to put the past where the past should be and to make an effort to build a future which is based on the recognition of human rights. This is also the key focus of OSCE.

I encourage the Tánaiste to put forward the concept of human security that has been espoused throughout the world and to address the underlying causes and long-term implications of conflicts which is more beneficial than trying to address the wars. The underlying causes of that insecurity must be addressed in the first instance. The concept of human security is vital and it does not exist on its own as there are overlapping concepts such as national security. It is often the case that the needs, rights and the problems of individuals and of groups within societies who are in conflict are overlooked.

I urge the Tánaiste to use some of the conference meetings to promote that concept as much as possible. It is a progressive concept which would also address some of the concerns to which the Tánaiste referred in his contribution with regard to the Internet. Restrictions on press freedom on the Internet are often sought under the guise of national security. Much has been lost, at least temporarily, under the guise of the war on terror. I welcome the upcoming conference on Internet freedom to be held in Dublin. The Internet has become a toy for the whole world. It provides freedom but also presents a challenge because with full freedom comes responsibility. It is a case of juggling the two.

I refer to the views of Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE media freedom representative who stated there is a witch hunt in some OSCE countries and beyond against bloggers and journalists. She stated that media professionals worry about themselves and their families if they write particular stories or make the wrong comments on social media. The television and radio media in the past also posed a threat to societies at the time because of the freedom potential of new technology.

I wish the conference in June well and hopefully it will send out a message to the OSCE countries and also beyond to the likes of the United States. It may encourage those within the European Parliament who are looking at the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement. Those campaigning for more Internet freedom have described it as SOPA on steroids, the US anti-piracy laws. It is hoped the European Parliament will postpone the passage of ACTA until such time as there has been full and proper debate on Internet freedoms to ensure those freedoms are neither abused nor restricted.

The other part of the Tánaiste's work will be to liaise with partnership countries as well. There are a number of those in the Mediterranean region in which the Tánaiste has taken an interest. We have seen the Arab Spring uprisings and revolutions in various countries around the Mediterranean, which pose a challenge. They include what happened in Libya and what is unfolding in Syria. Having travelled with the Tánaiste to the West Bank, I know what is happening in regard to Palestine. One of the OSCE partners is Israel which, as the end of 2010, welcomed Ireland as the next chairmanship-on-office of that body. In that statement, Israel assured its full co-operation and support for Ireland's successful chairmanship. Hopefully that will bear fruit because much of world has looked upon the problems of that area as being intractable. I do not believe they are intractable, however, because with dialogue and a concentration of minds we can get delivery of a solution which has been sought by the UN. I wish the Tánaiste well in talks, negotiations and dialogue with the Israelis during the period of Ireland's OSCE chairmanship.

There are other key items in the agenda and hopefully the Tánaiste will also make progress on the arms trade within Europe and on its borders. Arms production is still at an unacceptable level and should be reduced much further. That is a challenge for the EU and its defence agency, which should also play a role in reducing the amount of weapons that are produced, not only in Europe but throughout the world. The arms trade should be continually reduced so that we can have a safer world, not just a safer Europe. The money that is spent on arms, and thus diverted away from society, should be spent more productively. It should be invested in new technologies, including wind energy. If the money that is spent on the global arms industry was put into new technologies, we would have a more stable world and a lot less starvation.

I welcome the fact that Ireland has this major challenge ahead but, in my view, it is also a great honour. I wish the Tánaiste well in that regard. Hopefully, there will be a positive outcome from it. Our OSCE chairmanship should be used to promote Ireland's positive neutrality, our UN role, and our history in terms of conflict resolution.

Tá súil agam go mbeidh rath ar an obair agus, ag deireadh na bliana seo, go mbeimid in ann a rá gur éirigh go maith leis an gceannaireacht a bhfuil an domhain ag tnúth leis ó Éirinn sa tréimhse seo.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I now call Deputy Stephen Donnelly who is sharing time with Deputies Finian McGrath and Maureen O'Sullivan.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)
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I am one of Ireland's five-person parliamentary delegation to the OSCE so I have had the privilege and opportunity to see the workings of that parliamentary assembly for myself.

When I first heard about the position, my uninformed view of the OSCE was that it was probably a bloated bureaucracy which was doing some good work at its core. I also thought its budgets may have grown, including expenses and wages, and the level of accountability may have diminished over time.

I have to say, however, that I have been impressed by what I have seen. I have attended a few parliamentary assembly meetings and it has been a great learning experience and a privilege for me to see international diplomacy working with so many nations involved. It operates in a slow and peculiar way but it does seem to work and I am delighted that it does.

There probably is some merit to the charge against the institution that it has lost the run of itself in certain areas and that the bureaucracy has grown a little too big. That is something that should be looked at but nonetheless some serious and credible work is certainly being done there. Election monitoring is one of the activities in which the OSCE's parliamentary assembly is engaged. It is important both in Europe and elsewhere in order to bring a trusted light to what is going on in some parts of the world.

I wish to thank officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs for the support they have given to our OSCE parliamentary assembly members over the last year. Their work has been exemplary.

I welcome Ireland's chairmanship-in-office of the OSCE this year, as well as the Tánaiste's leadership position. I am somewhat disappointed by the lack of focus and attention that our chairmanship of the OSCE has had in the media. I would like it to have more because it is an international leadership role and a phenomenal opportunity for us. I do not know what more can be done about it. It may be that the media are simply not interested in aspects of it. It is not a criticism but I would urge some thinking and focus to see if we can do more to highlight the fact that for one year Ireland has this important leadership position.

I applaud the focus this year on combating human trafficking. There is an important event coming up at one of the OSCE assemblies on that topic. I know that the Government, including the Tánaiste and his Department, are taking a lead in this regard. I was at a multilateral meeting in Vienna on human trafficking and met people there who have been working full-time on the matter for years. They have led the fight against human trafficking in America, Canada and elsewhere. I cannot think of a more fitting word than evil - pure, unadulterated evil - to describe human trafficking. The vast majority of those trafficked, as we know, are women. This problem requires an absolutely uncompromising multinational approach, which the OSCE is well placed to provide. There are other organisations which are also well placed, but the OSCE really can help on this point.

I wonder if there is an opportunity for Ireland to take an even bigger position on this matter. In terms of things that Ireland can lead on globally, the fight against human trafficking is surely one. Given the focus on human trafficking during Ireland's chairmanship-in-office of the OSCE, is there an opportunity for us to seriously examine our own response? Is there an opportunity for a really effective public awareness campaign? Could we deploy more resources to An Garda Síochána and other State agencies involved in the prevention and detection of human trafficking, as well as supporting the victims when they are found? I believe there is an opportunity for us to go much further and take the initiative as a global leader in tackling human trafficking, which is a nasty, evil practice around the world.

I welcome the forthcoming conference on Internet freedom. In opposition I have been involved in trying to push the Government on some of its recent initiatives on Internet freedom. The Government could be in danger of being reasonably accused of a certain amount of hypocrisy in holding this conference while treating the discussion on Internet freedom - which we tried to have in this Chamber - with disregard. Deputy Catherine Murphy and I tabled a reasonable counter-statutory instrument to the one being introduced by the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock. We secured an hour's debate under protest and at the end of the debate I pushed the Minister by asking him if he would take on a single letter, word or idea we had discussed, which was backed by 80,000 people in an online poll and backed by some serious aspects. The Minister replied that he would not change a single word and that he had told me before the debate that he would not change a single word. I ask the Tánaiste to be careful that we reflect in this House what we are trying to promote at the event on Internet freedom.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate on the OSCE. I congratulate the Tánaiste and wish him well in his role as chair of the OSCE and commend my colleagues, Deputies Eoghan Murphy and Stephen Donnelly, on their work.

I will focus on three main policy areas and conflicts to which the Tánaiste and the OSCE should give more attention. They are Cuba, Palestine and Colombia. All of those countries need more support, and I hope the OSCE will up its game in terms of conflict resolution and human rights.

The OSCE's mandate includes issues such as arms control, the promotion of human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections. The OSCE has 550 headquarters with a field staff of 2,300 people. The OSCE is funded by its 56 members and its annual budget is in the region of €150 million. I raise these issues because resources are available to deal conflict resolution and human rights issues.

I raise the issue of Cuba and the way it is being treated by its nearest neighbour, the United States. I dedicate this contribution to the Miami Five case. Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labanino, Fernando González and René González are five Cubans who are trying to stop Miami based terrorist groups carrying out violent actions against the people of Cuba. They were found guilty of charges ranging from murder to espionage by a court in Miami which relied on the evidence of convicted terrorists. That is an important point. All these people are innocent of the charges brought against them. Extensive intimidation of jurists by these same terrorists was a feature of the trial and they are currently appealing their convictions. They are known in Cuba as the "Miami Five".

I point out to the Tánaiste and members of the OSCE that we need to ensure the release and exoneration of the five victims of this obvious miscarriage of justice. When I was in Cuba a number of years ago these people were treated in the same way as the Birmingham Six were many years ago. They were highlighted in every hotel and community centre I visited as being victims of a miscarriage of justice.

In Europe and in the United States - I am not being anti-US in saying this and I put this point on the record with a recent meeting I had with the American ambassador - we need to be open and sincere and Ireland should be a mediator in these conflicts. That is why I urge the Tánaiste to do this. People should think of the Miami Five case, think of the people of Cuba.

Another fact often ignored by many people in the West and in the European Union is that the campaign for the Miami Five is dedicated to the memory 3,478 Cubans killed and the 2,099 maimed at the hands at the hands of US-based terrorists since 1959. Many people do not realise that this has gone on against the people of Cuba. I ask the Tánaiste the OSCE to end the suffering of the Miami Five and the people of Cuba as a matter of urgency.

Another issue is that of Palestine and the rights of the Palestinian people. This week I and a number of colleagues met the Palestinian ambassador. The Palestinian people need Ireland to use its clout and influence more at a European level and at a United National level. The ambassador has pleaded with us to do this. Members of the Tánaiste's party attended that meeting and they were very supportive. I know that on a personal level the Tánaiste has pushed this agenda at the United Nations. There is a more immediate crisis in regard to the Palestinians. This week there are 1,600 Palestinian prisoners on hunger strikes and that will lead to a very delicate situation and could led to a very nasty situation.

The European Commission has recently cited 82 instances of damage inflicted by Israeli defence force attacks on EU-funded development projects, together with the member states they provided the money for each, and the dates range from May 2001 though to October 2011. Total losses are put at €49.1 million, with €29.3 million attributed to EU funding. These projects are funded by the EU, yet they are being wrecked by the Israeli forces.

I ask the Tánaiste to note these issue, use our experience in regard to the Good Friday Agreement and conflict resolution and put ourselves on the map in regard to mediation internationally. The word I get from different nationalities is that Ireland still has respect as being an international peace broker. There is urgent onus on the Tánaiste to develop this process. I wish him well in the future.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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The OSCE has a laudable mandate that stretches from arms control, promotion of human rights, freedom of the press to conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation. It is interesting that it emerged from the Helsinki talks where the Russian delegation had felt that it would be a way in which they could control the countries of the Eastern Bloc whereas the countries of Western Europe had a different agenda, and then the collapse of communism brought about a new dimension.

I came across a quotation from Vladimir Putin which he made in 2007. He was accusing the western states of "trying to transform the OSCE into a vulgar instrument designed to promote the foreign policy interests of one or a group of countries". I thought that somewhat rich given the way in which Russia is using its veto over the rights of the Syrian people.

When one looks at OSCE's history and development, like many organisations, it had a tendency to grow and grow and to become somewhat unwieldy. Perhaps it has taken on too much and, like a tree with too many branches, needs pruning. Instead of being the talking shop and political platform lacking, as one commentator put it, "competence and an ability to make their mark with a lack of direction". There are still certain aims on which there is a need to refocus.

When one looks at the history of Europe since the 1970s and asks has the organisation been a success, and one thinks of the conflicts in Chechnya and the Balkans to mention only two, it has been very disappointing. When one looks at the list of its members and the partners for co-operation, a significant number are not following the stated aims of the OSCE. Kazakhstan, for example, even when it had the chairmanship of the organisation, was very slow in carrying out liberal reforms. In Moldova, which is one of the Tánaiste's priorities, a television station closed recently, which has serious implications for freedom of the press. Cyprus is a member since the early 1970s and we know what is happening there. I would also mention Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan. A military camp was closed in Romania because of lead and mercury poisoning, yet it was okay to house Roma families on that camp. We can also note the situation in the Ukraine. One of its partners for co-operation is Morocco and France is a full member. I know the Tánaiste is aware of the issues surrounding the Western Sahara and the way in which both Morocco and France are preventing the people there from self-determination.

There are major challenges for the Tánaiste to refocus the OSCE on what it is supposed to be doing. Another challenge is its public profile, as Deputy Donnelly said. In spite of some 18 intervention missions, I do not believe that it, as an organisation, is well known or that it gets the publicity it deserves.

The Secretary General in an interview in 2009 said, "We're working to the long haul". When the Tánaiste opened the in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham he quoted from Yeats's poem "Lake Isle of Inishfree" and he talked about "peace comes dropping slow". That indicates that the Tánaiste is very aware of the challenges.

It has taken a while for us to get the chairmanship and I wish the Tánaiste very well on this. He came to a meeting of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and set out his priorities. I know there are protracted conflicts, including the Transdniestrian settlement process, Nagorno Karabakh and Georgia. I had hoped and asked that Bosnia would have been one of his priorities in view of the escalating tensions and difficulties there. Ireland could have and perhaps still can play a role to ensure that democracy prevails, even though it is not one of the Tánaiste's priorities. We have had meeting with Lord Ashdown and Kurt Bassuener and both see Bosnia Herzegovina as being in a very precarious situation with a need for a renewed commitment to stop the spread of corruption, lawlessness and ethnic chauvinism. I was struck by an OSCE project I read about which is a community engagement in Bosnia Herzegovina and which seems to be very positive.

I support the action plan on combating trafficking. There are certain member counties where we know that girls and young women are very vulnerable to being trafficked. General equality is another core principle, yet there are countries in the OSCE where gender equality is not on the agenda. Even in the countries of the Arab Spring, women seem to be being written out of their role in that history. I will not discuss media freedom.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I must ask the Deputy to conclude her remarks.

Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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I agree with election monitoring but I cannot understand how election results still stand if election monitors who see wrongdoing, corruption or rigging write a report afterwards. This must be examined. I hope disarmament and non-proliferation will be kept on the agenda.

Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour)
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I thank the Tánaiste for entrusting me with the position of parliamentary attendant at the OSCE assembly which takes place once every six months. When I was asked to go on the committee, like Deputy Donnelly I was apprehensive about what could be achieved by travelling abroad on behalf of the State. I must admit I was fearful of how the media would scrutinise the cost of sending Deputies abroad. I am now informed the cost has been reduced as much as possible and I thank the Department for this and for the work done during the chairmanship and beforehand. I have learned there is capacity to engage with fellow parliamentarians from throughout the Continent and the importance of this. To this end I would like to mention I am on the economic forum in the parliamentary assembly. When we speak about growth in the eurozone it was not President-elect Hollande of France who came up with the idea. There is engagement throughout the Continent. I was able to participate in a robust debate in Vienna in February on the need to create growth, the incapacity of a country in an EU-IMF programme and the ability of other countries to facilitate engagement and help.

I compliment Deputy Heather Humphreys who takes every opportunity she can to develop the country. I assisted her in meetings with people from Kazakhstan who are purchasing 2,000 animals, including cows and heifers, from Ireland to develop its stock. At one stage Kazakhstan had 32 million animals but this has been reduced to 2 million. This is worth €2.5 million a month to this country. We are examining developing it so animals other than purebred Herefords and Angus are taken. This is an opportunity well taken. I compliment Deputy Ann Phelan on her humanitarian efforts. Deputies Eoghan Murphy and Stephen Donnelly and Senator Jim Walsh are also making efforts to promote the country.

The OSCE also affords the opportunity for the social democrats of Europe to meet to converse about what is needed for the Continent and the Christian democrats do likewise. What can be conveyed to people and the sentiment that can filter through the Continent as a result of engaging with people cannot be underestimated. We are making allies and friends. With regard to the fiscal treaty, we cannot underestimate the level of influence parliamentarians can have when they go outside the country.

I wish to inform the House about what happened in the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham. The OSCE conference on the Northern Ireland peace process, Shared Future, was held there on 27 April and was the first of its kind. It was the first time we analysed and showcased the peace process, how it was achieved and the people engaged. It has been hailed by many who attended as a great success. Conference speakers included the Tánaiste, Senator George Mitchell, the Northern Ireland First Minister, Peter Robinson, and Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Owen Paterson, and other distinguished guests. They provided candid and enlightening anecdotes and insight on the peace process and the maintenance of the peace. US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, also lent support to the conference by sending a video message which encouraged attendees to engage and reflect on the elements discussed throughout the day. The conference addressed the important areas of the continuing peace process which include justice, policing, highlighting co-ordination and communication between the Garda Síochána and the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the importance of acknowledging and respecting different traditions in a society and the international element in creating the conditions for peace. It was great to witness attendees actively and thoughtfully engaging with speakers and each other throughout the day on these topics with some drawing parallels to the countries in which they reside.

This spotlight on Ireland was attended by 48 countries. Some of the countries represented experience conflict within their borders, which has made discussions of the peace process all the more relevant, essential and urgent. The messages conveyed throughout the day were sincerely taken on board by the representatives with many asking specific and earnest questions of the panellists. The conference provided renewed hope that peace is possible and many of the representatives were able to take away not only new ideas but renewed hope. The day had an optimistic tone with participants being able to witness first-hand men and women who had previously been divided now working together in the day-to-day business of Northern Ireland.

The conference heralded this case of conflict resolution as a success story to which other nations could look for information and guidance. It was recognised that each conflict worldwide was unique and that the case of Northern Ireland may not directly apply to resolution in other countries. However, what does apply is that persistence is necessary to pursue peace. I compliment the Tánaiste and his staff and the Irish Army which for many years has pursued through the UN and OSCE peacekeeping missions whereby it polices, monitors the media and returns people displaced as a result of conflict. I would like more time to speak about this but unfortunately I do not have it.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I wish I could give the Deputy more time.

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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I very much welcome this opportunity to speak in the House on the workings of the OSCE. I do not think the five minutes speaking time I have will do it justice so I will skip quite a bit of my speech, because other Deputies outlined the political and financial workings of the OSCE, and go to what I am interested in which is the human dimension. I hope to be able to demonstrate that although the OSCE is one of the largest organisations in the world it can be brought down to an individual level. A previous speaker on the other side the House mentioned how the OSCE can work on an individual basis.

In April we hosted the conference, Shared Future, at the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham which was attended by countries from as far away as Japan and Korea. A large part of our OSCE work is about conflict resolution and this conference allowed us to showcase Northern Ireland as an example of how these seemingly intractable problems can be resolved, not by coercion but by co-operation. We must recognise the uniqueness of each and every conflict but we can take best practices and apply them to other conflicts.

I have long been interested in the issue of human trafficking and I met high-level people in Vienna in February, including the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings, Ms Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, to further my personal interest and Ireland's interest in the area of human trafficking and the reasons behind it. Traffickers prey on people who find themselves in very weak positions, often with promises of wealth and happiness elsewhere. However, the only thing they are guaranteed is a life of misery and hard labour. People who are trafficked cannot escape; they are forced into a type of bonded labour where they must work to pay off their debt through forced labour or the sex industry. As previous speakers stated, this is a real threat to young women. Human trafficking is second only to drug trafficking, generating millions of dollars a year. To quote the report, Breaking the Silence, which compiled information on trafficking in the Roma community, "The heightened awareness of trafficking as a global issue is welcome".

My colleagues will have heard me previously raise a particular case. It is the case of the horrific murder of the Roma child, Marioara Rostas. This case affected me very deeply because it encapsulated all of the work in which the OSCE is involved with regard to human rights. While trafficking was not an element in the case, the Roma population tends to suffer most from human trafficking. It involved low levels of education and skills which the OSCE has cited as one of the most important factors in people being trafficked. I am delighted the OSCE has prioritised human trafficking as something that must be focused on and resolved. It is leading the way on the issue.

In conclusion, I thank the members of the Irish delegation, Deputies Spring, Murphy, Humphreys and Donnelly for their interest in and engagement with the OSCE. I look forward to the conference in June and the gathering of the Foreign Ministers in Dublin in December.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I do not often get the chance to speak on foreign affairs issues so I welcome this opportunity. I wish to record my appreciation of all of the staff in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, both in Dublin and serving abroad. We have been incredibly well served since the foundation of the State by the Department and its fantastic officials. Those of us who have had the privilege of serving in the Government are very aware of the specialism of the staff, particularly those working abroad.

I have learned more in the last ten minutes about the OSCE than any briefing could have provided. Deputy Phelan and Deputy Spring spoke about the practical work it does. One assumed it operated on high level international treaties and the like, which take a long time to impact on people's lives, but after hearing the Deputies' contributions one can see the practical impact it has. As Deputy Spring mentioned, that type of work is done but the only focus is on the cost of flights and hotels. We have reached a bad juncture if we are working to try and change people's lives and that is the only coverage it gets. The work of the OSCE is hidden behind a bushel and, as parliamentarians, we must do much more to promote it. We must inject it into people's consciousness and show the practical examples of its work, which Deputy Spring discussed.

The world tends to forget it is not long ago that very dreadful divisions characterised Europe in the 1940s and 1950s. It is also not long ago that we saw one of the most shameful episodes in world history in the Balkans. However, we tend to move on and forget about them. With the current need to concentrate on economic issues we tend to forget about the human rights agenda. The OSCE is keeping that to the fore. I will make one political point. The argument has been made by this Government that our reputation abroad was destroyed and shattered but it should be remembered that the invitation to chair the OSCE came during the term of the last Government and was secured by the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Micheál Martin. That said, I commend the Tánaiste and the team for the manner in which they have taken the chairmanship on board.

I particularly commend them on the conference they held in March on political transparency and corruption, which was addressed by Elaine Byrne, among others. One of the concerns I have about where the OSCE is going is that Ireland will hand over the chair next year to Ukraine. We want the OSCE to promote political best practice, democracy and proper governance and standards within politics, but at this time next year will the Ukrainian Parliament have the same ability to speak freely about its government's role? One sees the current situation in Ukraine of former Prime Minister Tymoshenko, while Freedom House describes Ukraine as only partially free. There are also issues with elections there. However, we will hand over the chair of this very important organisation, for both democracy and Europe, to Ukraine next year. Questions must be asked about the robustness of the governance of the organisation. To quote the old saying, it is like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. It will dilute and diminish the work the Government is putting into the running of the organisation this year.

The other issue is whether the organisation has a mission. With the balance of power shifting to the east, where will the OSCE fit in? It must redefine and examine how it involves countries in the east as well as the BRIC - Brazil, Russia, India and China - countries and how they can play a much more fundamental role in the running of the organisation than at present. The world is no longer focused on Europe and America, with everybody else taking their place in the choir behind them. All the world's organisations will have to develop a new way of thinking and working as the world changes. Rather than being behind the curve, as many of the political organisations are, this is a chance for the OSCE to move to the front and lead the debate on where world politics is going and on standards. It must challenge politicians, member countries and its representatives in various organisations to think differently about development, economic and social issues in the context of how the world is evolving. If ever there was a need for an organisation to fulfil that role, there is now. Many of the other organisations, unfortunately, are getting involved in the economic area, because they must. There is a chance now for the OSCE to put forward a series of human rights related agendas and to keep to the fore issues that are no longer prominent because of the necessary concentration on economics.

Ireland's role is greatly enhanced by our experience with the peace process. While big conferences are beneficial and it is great that so many attend them, a peace process, like diplomacy, is hard work, taking two steps forward and ten steps back. What we have to bring to the table is the experience of the peace process and everything that went into it. There is a far greater role for this country to play in terms of using that experience with organisations such as the OSCE and other worldwide organisations. Irish people can come to the fore by using that experience and the traits we have learned through that process and applying them to other world conflicts, and by bringing our knowledge of the process to those conflicts. If by the end of this year we had some type of template to do that, it would be a huge achievement. It could be left as a mark of our year as chair. The chairmanship does not come around very often and we might not hold it again, but that would be a permanent legacy. In 20 years people might say that it was a model put in place during the Irish chairmanship.

However, as a country we should not be afraid to challenge other countries within the organisation. I refer in particular to Ukraine. It is not good that it will take over, particularly given all the questions about that country. That chairmanship will have the capacity to undermine the progress we might make this year and the progress other countries have made.

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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I compliment Deputy Calleary on his thoughtful contribution. This is an island and we must trade or we die. We do not just trade in goods and services but also politically, culturally, academically and in myriad ways. There is an idea in certain quarters that we can resolve our great problems alone. We cannot, and neither can others. There are those who would have us not only burn bondholders and investors but also relationships, credibility and confidence in Ireland's commitment to the wider world. We have a reputation to rebuild. That means re-engaging with those countries, organisations and issues we ignored in the past during the boom years. It means fulfilling our responsibilities beyond our shores.

I am glad the Tánaiste and the Whips facilitated the time for this debate so the Dáil could discuss the important work of the OSCE. I was privileged to be asked by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to head the Oireachtas delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE. While the Minister and other Deputies have given the House a clear picture of the work of the organisation, this is our Parliament and I will speak on the important work being done in the organisation's Parliamentary Assembly. Initially, however, I commend the Tánaiste and all the diplomatic staff working here in Dublin in the task force headed by Ambassador Frank Cogan and in Vienna headed by Ambassador Eoin O'Leary. They and their staff are a compliment to the Tánaiste and the way he has assumed and directed his chairmanship of the OSCE.

I wish to comment briefly on the recent event in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. As a Member of the Dáil and as an Irish person, I was proud to receive the compliments I received there on behalf of the Government for all the good work the Tánaiste and the diplomatic corps have done in the chairmanship role of the organisation. The aforementioned "Shared Future"conference was on the Northern Ireland peace process and tried to use Irish history as a potential case study for other situations throughout the world. Those who attended, both from Ireland and the dignitaries and diplomats who came from abroad, derived much benefit from it and I certainly did. It stands as a fine example of the excellent work being done by the Government in this sphere. It also is important to recognise this is being done with a reduced budget and with reduced resources.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE is the parliamentary dimension of the organisation's work, which I have experienced a number of times since my election to the Dáil. We deal with the same issues as the OSCE but as parliamentarians and not as governments. The primary task of the Assembly is to facilitate interparliamentary dialogue in an effort to meet the challenges of democracy throughout the OSCE area. The Assembly comprises 320 parliamentarians from 56 countries who discuss issues that matter to each one of them. In my experience, it is a powerful thing in which to be involved. The six-member Oireachtas delegation to the OSCE includes Deputies Heather Humphreys, Ann Phelan, Spring and Donnelly and Senator Jim Walsh. While we have political allegiances here at home, we leave these behind when we attend the Assembly, where we work as a unit. We represent our country and I believe we do so well. One of the delegation's driving motivations is to represent its country as best it can and to make a meaningful contribution to the Assembly's work. I believe we are fortunate, in that so many parliamentarians from our partner countries approach it in the same way.

In the course of the meetings we have attended, the delegation has discussed a number of issues, from Ireland's Criminal Assets Bureau to cybersecurity and cybercrime, human trafficking, detention of political prisoners in, for example, Ukraine, election monitoring in a number of countries including Tunisia and conflict resolution in areas like Nagorno-Karabakh.

As it is the largest regional security organisation in the world, the brief is wide-ranging but I will touch on a few of the issues the Parliamentary Assembly has dealt with to date. One such issue is human trafficking, to which Deputy Ann Phelan already has referred briefly. In February, Ms Maria Grazia Giammarinaro visited Dublin and met our delegation here. Ms Grazia Giammarinaro is the OSCE special representative and co-ordinator for combatting trafficking in human beings. We discussed at length in our meeting the issue of human trafficking and how it relates to forced labour. Subsequently and following on from that meeting, we have engaged with Ms Grazia again, with fellow Assembly members from the United States in particular, as well as other interested partners, in the hope of the Irish delegation organising a side-event at a future meeting to help to try to bring this issue more to the fore in the work of both the Assembly and the OSCE, as well as to help educate other parliamentarians as to the types of laws and measures that could be introduced in their own countries to help with this matter, which also of course affects Ireland. The benefit of this multilateral organisation is demonstrated by working together on such an important issue.

As for Syria, as the conflict there escalated to yet another level of violence and having discussed the issue of Syria at the Parliamentary Assembly in Vienna, Deputies Spring, Ann Phelan and I raised the crisis in Syria recently as a topical issue. This is a good example of how the work of the Assembly reflects back on individual parliaments and parliamentarians. Had it not been for the discussions in which we had participated previously, I am unsure whether we would have taken such an interest in this conflict. This is a major positive because the more parliamentarians who raise this issue, the more Governments that must pay attention and, one hopes, the more pressure that will be brought to bear on the Syrian Government. It is important to make this point today in particular in light of the most recent events in that country and the terrible things that are happening.

Election monitoring comprises another very important element of the work of both the Assembly and the OSCE. Much of the work of the OSCE is conducted through the organisation's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which deals in the main with election monitoring and is headed most capably by Ambassador Lenarcic in his office based in Warsaw. Long and short-term observers, sponsored by governments including the Government of Ireland, are deployed to countries throughout the organisation to monitor their elections and to ensure they are free and fair. There is no discrimination here and this year, election monitors will be deployed in both Russia and the United States to monitor the presidential elections there. An essential component of these missions is the delegation from the OSCE's Parliamentary Assembly. As parliamentarians, people who have been through the election process themselves, they add an extra dimension of scrutiny to proceedings, a perhaps more relevant experience in so far as assessing the conduct of elections is concerned. While the work of such delegations cannot be done without the long and short-term observers, the experience they bring on the day, on the ground, in the middle of the seeming chaos that is the democratic election process, is critical.

If I may, I will speak briefly on my personal experience in Russia, because I was fortunate to witness this at first-hand, when the Assembly decided to send an observation mission to the Russian presidential elections in March. Much is happening in Russia on the political front at present and it was the good work of the OSCE, as the only independent external observers of the parliamentary elections to the Duma last December, that was able to legitimately determine the conduct of those elections. We travelled to the presidential elections to continue that good work. As a member organisation of the OSCE, it is important that the Assembly continues in its commitment to its fellow parliamentarians there and the people they represent. This was a fascinating experience for me as a new and young Deputy. Moreover, I believe, every Member of this House should at some stage participate in an observation mission abroad. One learns in a short time the true value of democracy, of strong political and democratic institutions and of the power of giving the franchise, that is, the vote and a voice, to those who may not have exercised it before or who may not be able to exercise it as freely as do people here. This Parliament would be stronger, were each Member to take time to observe the election processes in our OSCE partner countries.

I spent six days in Moscow. We met the election observers the OSCE already had deployed on the ground, visited the Duma and met representatives of the different candidates and parties, as well as one of the candidates, Mr. Prokhorov, who ultimately came third in the election. We were briefed by civic society, including the Golos organisation, the operations of which we viewed and we met State-run and other independent media. On the day itself, I opened and closed a polling station in the Moscow north-central area, which was fascinating. I also visited many others throughout the day, including a polling station in a prison. It was quite something to observe how one administers an election on such a wide scale across nine timezones and a number of regions. I witnessed the count, did my tallies and reported back to my team in the early hours of the morning. Later that morning, there was a debriefing with all the monitoring teams in which reports were taken from all over the country. We held a press conference and then, for the time being at least, our work was done. However, I wish to cite the conclusions of the head of our delegation, Mr. Tonino Picula from Croatia, on that occasion:

There were serious problems from the very start of this election. The point of elections is that the outcome should be uncertain. This was not the case in Russia. There was no real competition and abuse of government resources ensured that the ultimate winner of the election was never in doubt.

This was the truth of the matter and Mr. Picula stated it as it needed to be stated, in stronger terms than others and following our direct experience there. This demonstrates the added value of the Parliamentary Assembly in a very meaningful and demonstrable way. I highlight this statement, while making no criticism of the essential work done by the OSCE observers or the participating governments of the OSCE in election monitoring. My point is only to emphasise the important additional dimension that parliamentarians, answerable only to the people who elect them, can bring to such situations.

In conclusion, our work as parliamentarians is important. This body, the OSCE, is essential. If it did not exist, it would be necessary to create it. I commend the new Secretary General, Ambassador Zannier, on all his good work to date. In so far as the Irish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly is concerned, I thank the IPU here for its excellent support, as well as the Secretariat to the Assembly in Copenhagen, led ably by Secretary General Spencer Oliver, with his staff. Our Assembly President, a Greek parliamentarian and friend, is Petros Efthymiou and I personally congratulate him on serving the Assembly so well for the past two years. I also express my thanks to the diplomats who have assisted the delegation so well abroad and finally to my fellow members of the delegation for all of their hard work to date. Ireland has a reputation to rebuild abroad and the delegation's work in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is very much a part of that, as is the fine work the Tánaiste is doing in chairing the OSCE this year. It is not all selfish as I believe we are making a difference and we are making a significant contribution to international events.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the opportunity to contribute to these important statements on the OSCE chairmanship. My first encounter with the OSCE as a parliamentarian was when I was asked by the Opposition Whip a few years ago to attend the annual plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly in Astana, Kazakhstan, when Kazakhstan held the presidency of the OSCE. This was an important meeting for the 56 states represented at the session, as are the other OSCE meetings that take place throughout the year. It was addressed by the President and a number of foreign ministers, including a large delegation from the United States, Canada and Russia. It was very interesting for me to hear for the first time of the important role the OSCE plays in conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict issues, as well as the role it plays in the Caucasus countries, that is, those post-USSR countries and the Balkan countries to name a few and its important role in election observation.

Many people in Ireland do not know a great deal about the OSCE and how it works and few realise the importance of Ireland holding the chairmanship of this important body in 2012.

I commend Deputy Eoghan Murphy, leader of the Irish parliamentary delegation of the OSCE, on ensuring this debate was held today. Its important the Irish people are briefed on activities during our chairmanship. Deputy Murphy wrote to me some time ago in my capacity as chairman of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade seeking support for this debate today. I was glad to be of assistance in this regard. It is hoped further time will be made available for statements on Ireland's chairmanship of the OSCE before that chairmanship expires at the end of the year. Irrespective of our chairmanship, it is important our members of the OSCE and Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly report back to Dáil Éireann on their activities following the plenary week. Perhaps following the plenary week the Whips will consider providing time for further statements on what is happening given Members are representing this House at the plenary sessions.

In my role as chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, I have had a number of meetings, formal and informal, to highlight Ireland's chairmanship of the OSCE. We had a very interesting debate on this matter last year. The committee also received the Secretary General, Mr. Lamberto Zannier, ODIHR Director, Janez Lenarcic and Mr. Spencer Oliver, Secretary General of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The foreign affairs committee has put Ireland's chairmanship at the top of its agenda and will continue to do so during 2012.

Ireland's chairmanship of the OSCE will raise its international profile. I commend the Tánaiste on his tireless work thus far during our chairmanship. It is a busy schedule involving a great deal of travel and meetings. The Tánaiste bears responsibility for the executive action of the organisation and the co-ordination of its activities. The Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade recently held an important meeting with former US Senator George Mitchell, leading Northern Ireland politicians and representatives of some 50 OSCE countries at which we discussed the Northern Ireland conflict, the peace process and our experience with conflict resolution. It was a very successful meeting, from which the international delegates learned a great deal about Ireland's successful peace process. Our experience could be helpful in assisting conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan and other areas.

I take this opportunity to welcome the new Russian ambassador to Ireland, who presented his credentials last week. I acknowledge the attendance of a representative of the Russian embassy in the Gallery today to hear our statements on the OSCE. I commend all of those involved in Ireland's chairmanship of the OSCE, including the Tánaiste, Ministers of State Creighton and Costello, our ambassadors and officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, including Mr. David Donoghue who has done much work in this area. It is timely that Ireland holds chairmanship of the OSCE as it takes over the Presidency of the EU in Jan 2013.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak about the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE. I wish the Tánaiste well in his role as chairman of the OSCE.

It is important that the work of the OSCE is debated in the House as this organisation does not often get the recognition or attention it deserves. I regret to say that prior to my appointment as a member of the Irish delegation to the parliamentary assembly last year, I had not heard of the OSCE. I am sure this is the case for the majority of people. It is important, therefore, that people are made aware of the working of the OSCE, particularly when one considers that Ireland was a founding member in 1973 when the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe was established, later renamed the OSCE.

The OSCE comprises 56 countries from Europe, Central Asia and North America, which shows the strength of the organisation. Ireland's involvement can only be positive for our country. While the OSCE is primarily a security organisation, Ireland's involvement has been beneficial from a number of other perspectives. It provides us with an opportunity to strengthen our relations with our neighbouring countries and to build new relationships with countries with which we have had little or no connection the past.

At a recent conference in Vienna, Deputy Spring and I met with a delegation from Kazakhstan, with whom I discussed the export of Irish beef cattle and breeding stock to Kazakhstan through a new market funded by its Government in an effort to improve and increase its beef herd. It was pleasing to hear how hugely impressed they were by the quality of the breeding heifers imported from Ireland. We are very proud of our Irish agriculture. It is well accepted that agriculture and the agrifood business will play a huge role in our economic recovery. It is important, therefore, that we continue to promote our products abroad at every opportunity. In this regard exchanges at OSCE meetings can be very beneficial and can further cement our relations with parliamentarians in our exporting markets.

It is significant in the context of the upcoming referendum on the European stability treaty that we should be debating the OSCE today. Similar to the EU, the OSCE is an organisation which is based on strength in unity. At a time when Ireland's international reputation is not as strong as it once was, our involvement in multinational organisations is more important than ever. The OSCE deals with a range of security issues, including conflict prevention and resolution, human rights, election monitoring and economic and environmental security.

As I mentioned earlier, the OSCE is not as well known in Ireland as it should be. Fortunately, we have been presented with a tremendous opportunity this year that should help to rectify that situation. For the first time, Ireland holds the chairmanship of the OSCE. This is hugely significant and I have no doubt that the Tánaiste will do an excellent job. During our chairmanship, we will have an opportunity to share our own experiences of conflict resolution in Northern Ireland with other countries. As a Deputy from Cavan-Monaghan on the Border region, I am acutely aware of what has been achieved in the North in terms of peace and reconciliation. I remember horrific local events such as the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, the Enniskillen bombing and, later, the Omagh bombing. It is only when one considers these and other atrocities, which unfortunately became a part of everyday life in Ireland during the Troubles, that one can fully appreciate just how far we have come. I believe that the peace process in Northern Ireland can rightly be held up as a beacon of hope for other countries where long-standing conflicts are taking place. What has been achieved here is proof of what is possible through hard work, commitment and co-operation between different communities.

At the OSCE annual meeting in Belgrade, we attended a meeting to discuss the OSCE gender balance report which relates to women's economic dependence. The report concluded that the OSCE's gender action plan from 2004 had little discernible success in increasing the number of women in top management positions, which, we are all agreed, needs to improve throughout participating OSCE countries. It was interesting to hear that although the number of female professionals in management positions increased from 24% to 30%, the top leadership remains dominated by men. This is significant in the context of the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011 which we have been debating, which aims to increase the participation of women in politics. From our discussions at the parliamentary assembly, it is clear that a lack of women in public life is not a problem unique to Ireland, although some countries have a much higher participation of women than us. Deputy Ann Phelan and I will continue to explore and learn from the experience of other women at OSCE level in order to encourage more women into Irish politics.

My experience of Irish membership of the OSCE has been a positive, informative and worthwhile one.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the opportunity to discuss Ireland's chairmanship of the OSCE and the opportunities this presents. Despite the damage to our reputation caused by the economic crisis of recent years, our legacy in terms of our leadership on human rights and overseas aid has held true to us. I refer to our role in terms of the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons treaty and the foundation of the UN and the fact we have had Nobel prize winners, such as Seán McBride, John Hume and David Trimble, and a High Commissioner for Human Rights, Dr. Mary Robinson. For a small island of 6 million people and a small State of 4.5 million people, our legacy is tremendous. The more one travels, the more feedback one gets and we could play a role as an honest broker and as a facilitator between our umbilical brothers and sisters in the United States - a relationship built on emigration - and the rest of the world.

There is sense - I sought counsel on this from people in NGOs and so on - that there could be duplication. There needs to be a clear delineation of responsibilities. What is the role of the UN, NATO and OSCE in conflict resolution? We need to clearly delineate the lines between, and the roles given to, those distinct organisations. The last thing one needs is duplication when one is trying to address conflict resolution. One perfect example of Europe's failure is the Israel-Palestine crisis. Since the Oslo Accord, the Israeli state has proceeded with the illegal settlements in the West Bank, in particular. A recent leaked reported from EU rapporteurs on the ground showed that the Jewish population in what is called area C, where these settlements are being built, has increased from approximately 120,000 to 500,000. The Palestinian population has rapidly declined and some UN reports have referred to it as ethnic cleansing. It is in defiance of international law and yet Europe continues to maintain the favourable trade relationship with Israel. It actually rewards Israel for that approach.

Similarly, in regard to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons treaty, all the focus is on Iran. Iran, like all signatories, must meet its responsibilities under that treaty but Israel is not even a signatory to it. There are only three countries which are not signatories to that treaty, namely, Pakistan, India and Israel. However, we will focus on Israel for now. It is clearly in possession of hundreds of nuclear warheads and yet there is no focus on it whatsoever or no sanctions. Indeed, it is rewarded. Unless there is consistency in the application of the rule of international law by Europe, then its moral weight in that region is severely impacted on. Of course, that has a knock-on effect in the region.

There is a real opportunity for Europe with the Arab spring. I had the privilege to visit Tunisia for a number of days and to experience at first hand the potential of the Arab spring there. Compared to other uprisings, it was quite remarkable. It took a number of weeks to eventually overthrow Ben Ali. Tragically, there were more than 300 deaths but that was nothing compared to what it took others to win their freedom from a dictators. In that country, there is a moderate forum for Islam in the personification of Ennahda, the party which won the most support in the elections to the constituent assembly there where secular and moderate Islam work side by side. Tunisia has the potential to be a template which proves that there is the capacity within Islam and Arab countries to have moderate democracy which recognises the rights and entitlements of all citizens. Tunisia is working on a constitution and is one of the European Union's closest neighbours on the African continent. The Tánaiste was in Tunis as part of the peace initiative in regard to Syria and met the leaders there, including the prime minister. It is really is a superb template.

I refer to the situation in Bahrain where the regime had a recent commercial success with the Formula One race going ahead in defiance of the Shia majority in that state. A human rights leader there, who is supported by front line defenders in this country, is on hunger strike. He is a wonderful man of peace who is dying and yet there is total inaction by the West. The regime in Bahrain presents itself as one which has something to tell the people of Syria. There are so many inconsistencies in the way Europe and the West apply themselves to the region.

Our track record in the promotion of human rights, our proclaimed neutrality, although it has been undermined in recent years with the use of Shannon for aeroplanes stopping off on the way to war in the Gulf, our defence of human rights and our honourable track record in overseas aids mean that with the chairmanship of OSCE, we have the chance to promote our status and to play a role beyond the NATO states in Europe.

I was not aware of the conference on focusing on the lessons learned in the North. That was an excellent initiative bringing hundreds of people from the area covered by the OSCE here to learn those lessons. We need to see more of that.

There needs to be a forceful confrontation in regard to Belarus. I know there are sanctions and so on in place but we need to pursue the issue of Belarus during our term. As the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, will know, Paddy Ashdown appeared before a joint meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committees on European Union Affairs and Foreign Affairs and Trade. He was very concerned about the situation in Bosnia. He referred to Bosnia as being the poster boys of that process but he worries that the leader of the Bosnian Serbs is undermining the continued peace. As we know, Bosnia is very divided on ethnic grounds, with the Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and so on. That country suffered horrendously during the war there. The leader of the Bosnian Serbs denies those dreadful atrocities took place. I urge the Tánaiste to use his position - I know the Minister of State, Deputy Creighton, will engage in a range of meetings in the countries in that region - and to take a leadership role in that situation, to try to help it along and listen to the advice of people like Paddy Ashdown, who is very concerned about the undermining of the advances made in the region.

It is an honour to hold the chairmanship of the organisation but I urge the Government to use that term to further strengthen Ireland's reputation and to take courageous initiatives in those areas which have been failed, whether within the OSCE or outside it in the context of the Arab spring and Israel-Palestine, and to advance them, separately if needs be.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I call Deputy Eric Byrne.

Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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How many minutes do I have?

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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You have ten minutes.

Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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I am really an interested observer but I will contribute. I came to listen to the debate.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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If you take ten minutes, Deputy Clare Daly will have eight minutes because the Minister of State must be called at 3.37 p.m. If you do not want to take-----

Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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I will not take ten minutes.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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That is fine. Deputy Daly will probably have more than eight minutes.

Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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I am an interested observer because I have some experience of election monitoring on behalf of the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe, OSCE, in countries such as Kyrgyzstan and Albania, among others. It was a fascinating experience. The organisation is tremendous and the diversity of its functions and roles is interesting.

As I praised the Tánaiste and his officials at the foreign affairs committee, I will not make the same speech. Instead, I will pick up on some of the issues that have been raised in the Chamber. In some countries, for example, Moldova, Albania or Kyrgyzstan, the OSCE is a household name. The kids on the street know about its role. In Bishkek, for example, the OSCE has offices. In Ireland, most people believe that we are discussing the OECD and have not heard of the OSCE. Who is to blame for this mistake?

It was rather late in the day that I discovered that there was such a thing as the OSCE parliamentary assembly. Some of the Deputies present are delegates to that assembly. My experience of election monitoring used to be through Irish Aid, which used panels of vetted volunteers. Irish Aid does significant work. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle's brother was in a difficult position when he was sent on his first mission. Among other problems, it was bloody cold and the living conditions were trying.

There is a disconnect between the OSCE's parliament and executive. Our foreign affairs committee has met the American representative of the parliament and the Secretary General, who was relatively new at the time. We put a question to them about the funding streams, which do not seem adequate to sustain the office or to give the OSCE the international publicity that it deserves. There is a weakness in the funding streams.

To cite parliamentarians, there also appears to be an unhealthy conflict between the parliament and the executive. I have heard both individuals address this issue several times. This conflict was put on show when one of our colleagues, a Senator, recited his experience of flying on his own for hours to a distant land. On arrival, he heard Irish accents and discovered to his amazement that they belonged to Irish Aid volunteers who were monitoring elections. A parliamentarian sent by the OSCE parliamentary assembly did not know of or connect with the "official delegation" that was conducting election monitoring.

As I have no experience of the parliamentary assembly, I am genuinely concerned that it is a funny kind of parliament. There is a disconnect. If we are to build upon the OSCE, we must try to iron out the difficulties between the parliament and the executive. Perhaps they are influenced by the fact that the two have different offices, one in Vienna and the other in Warsaw. At a meeting yesterday, my colleague asked the interesting question of where the OSCE fell between the United Nations and Europe. Given the fact that the EU provides in excess of €1 billion in development aid to areas of conflict, human rights abuses and so on, is there duplication internationally?

I did not wish to dampen the enthusiasm of all of the parliamentarians present by asking why people did not know about the OSCE. While I was guiding tourists from city hall to Dublin Castle the week before last, to my horror security people redirected us from a part of the castle. When I asked why, they told me that the OSCE was there. I am a Member of the Irish Parliament, other parliamentarians sit in Vienna and Warsaw and Irish civil servants at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade organise the OSCE's meetings on behalf of the Tánaiste, yet the committee on foreign affairs was never invited. My colleague, Deputy Mac Lochlainn, referred to the conflict resolution issue. I happened to be with an ambassador from Morocco who invited me to a private lunch because his country's Government had appointed someone to its anti-corruption board. I discovered that he was a speaker at the OSCE meeting from which I was redirected. The people of Ireland will never know about the OSCE if the parliamentarians in this Chamber are not fully engaged in the process.

Having got those issues off my chest, I will leave it at that and allow an extra couple of minutes to Deputies who might have more to say.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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This is an important discussion and I welcome the opportunity to contribute. The OSCE is supposed to deal with Europe's borders as far as the Mediterranean and sets itself up as being a promoter of democratic values, protector of human rights and so on. However, we need to examine the organisation's history and its lack of teeth. A tokenistic organisation, it has not contributed in any way to the promotion of the values in question. It supported the bombing of Kosovo and there is no record of any opposition to the bombings of Serbia in 1999 or to the violent crimes perpetuated by former President Yeltsin against people in his own country when he bombed its parliament and killed 167 citizens. Neither the OSCE nor Dick Spring, the Minister of State's party colleague and the first Labour Party Minister for Foreign Affairs, condemned these actions. The boat was not rocked because Yeltsin was on a pro-privatisation bent. There was no opposition to the bombing of Libya. It is ironic that the head of NATO attended meetings with the OSCE at the height of the bombing campaign. In his speech to the OSCE, he acknowledged that conflict always involved the violation of people's human rights and stated that NATO's intervention had prevented massacres and saved countless lives. As we all know, that did not turn out to be true and there was no evidence of any massacre. The situation in Libya is more unstable than it was previously.

Although these points must be registered, what exposes the futility of the organisation more than anything else is the fact that Kazakhstan was given the chairmanship of the OSCE in 2010. Is there any clearer hypocrisy than a country with Kazakhstan's record being at the helm of an organisation that puts itself forward as promoting human rights, the rule of law and democratic values, which it calls the pillars of European security? These lofty and meaningful ideals were to be upheld by Kazakhstan when the dogs on the street knew of that regime's domestic record. President Nursultan Nazarbayev is effectively a dictator and acts of repression by the country's Government against protests have been well articulated, although probably not enough in Ireland. The protest movement in Kazakhstan developed as a result of the country's neoliberal reforms, which decimated living standards, created a difficult economic situation, caused industrial production to plummet, led to high levels of inflation and forced factories to shut down and workers to be laid off. The problems with Kazakhstan's housing sector led to the formation of Kazakhstan 2012. This movement of residents responding to lies about credit and mortgages gave rise to a democratic and engaged series of protests and strikes. The response of the establishment, however, was brutal repression.

My colleague, Deputy Higgins, visited Kazakhstan as a Member of the European Parliament to meet victims of torture and take witness statements and personal testimony about torture by the regime. We attempted to highlight the atrocities being committed in Kazakhstan with the Department of Foreign Affairs but when we asked how it could square the circle of giving a state that was responsible for such abuse the chairmanship of the OSCE, it responded that hosting the chair would bring it into the fold of human rights and allow it to see the error of its ways. The Department suggested that the OSCE's discussions of human rights and democracy would rub off on the regime.

Unfortunately, these discussions failed to turn Kazakhstan into a democracy. As we speak, a leading human rights activist, Vadim Kuramshim, is on trial in Kazakhstan. Mr. Kuramshim, who has already spent ten years in prison, faces a further seven to 15 years for the crime of attempting to uncover serious corruption in the regional prosecutor's office. His lawyers and defence team claim that he has been denied the basic democratic right to an open and independent inquiry into corruption.

In another case, 37 oil workers are on trial for participating in mass unrest. Their supporters have expressed astonishment at the amount of nonsense being put forward by the establishment in its case against them. One of the oil workers stated in his testimony that he was taken to a police station, where:

people in masks asked me what I knew about the events on the 16th December, to which I replied nothing. Then they started to beat me. They asked me if I knew [a certain individual]. They claimed I had robbed an ATM with him, which I denied. Then the beatings got worse. They put a cellophane packet over my head. Then I got scared. I didn't know where to go, who to complain to. I signed the statement they put in front of me, accusing [the aforementioned individual]. But when I got out I went straight to his mother's and told her everything. I know that [he] was not involved in the strike. I refute all my earlier testaments.

Anonymous witnesses are giving evidence against these oil workers. Other victims have described their arrest and torture. One stated:

I shook all night from fear and cold. I couldn't get hold of myself. I asked the investigator where I should go – as the city was still under curfew. As I was making my way home, I was again arrested by soldiers. They were in masks and started beating me again. They released me in the morning. The next night they arrested me again. [They] forced me to sign a couple of papers. Then from time to time they came and took me again, threatening me that if I didn't do what they wanted, they would shut me up. I was afraid to leave my home.

This is the type of regime that exists in Kazakhstan, a member of the OSCE.

Will the Government assure us that the OSCE, which has long been a tokenistic body, will do something for a change? The first step should be the expulsion of Kazakhstan in order to demonstrate the international community's disapproval of the vicious repression that takes place in that country.

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I welcome the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to the issues raised by Deputies. The contributions have been of a high quality and revealed considerable engagement by Members in these matters. I also welcome the Russian ambassador, who has been following the debate. In regard to Deputy Eric Byrne's comment about limited public awareness, the Oireachtas delegation to the OSCE parliamentary assembly organised today's debate in an attempt to increase awareness about the OSCE and the important role it plays. Five months into Ireland's chairmanship, this debate has provided a valuable opportunity to assess where we stand. I am pleased that the discussion has been conducted in an open, frank and comprehensive manner. Although Ireland's chairmanship is not yet at its half-way stage, it has already been highly productive and has contributed enormously to Ireland's profile and reputation on the international stage. The Irish chairmanship has attracted praise for its work across the OSCE's three dimensions.

In this regard, I add my voice to the Tánaiste's in thanking the members of the Oireachtas OSCE parliamentary assembly delegation, namely, Deputies Eoghan Murphy, Phelan, Humphreys, Spring and Donnelly, and Senator Jim Walsh. The delegation has been engaged and dynamic in its work thus far, particularly in the area of election observation, and I look forward to continued co-operation throughout the year.

I was delighted to attend the reception that followed the second preparatory meeting of the economic and environmental forum, which was held in Dublin Castle on 23 and 24 April. This high level conference convened over two hundred delegates from across the area covered by the OSCE. Focusing on efforts to combat corruption in support of effective socio-economic development, it provided an opportunity to highlight Ireland's national expertise in this field. The Criminal Assets Bureau, which was represented at the conference by Detective Chief Superintendent Eugene Corcoran, was presented to delegates as an example of successful endeavour in this field. The conference was also addressed by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, the Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Perry, and the US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance, Mr. Michael Camunez. The conference made an important contribution to Ireland's core theme in the OSCE's economic and environmental dimension, which is the promotion of security and stability through good governance. We look forward to the concluding meeting of the OSCE economic and environmental forum in Prague in September, during which discussion of this important topic will continue.

During the same week as the preparatory meeting Ireland also hosted a high level conference on the experience of achieving a peaceful political settlement in Northern Ireland as a case study of possible relevance to others in the OSCE area and beyond. This conference was the first of its kind to be hosted in Ireland. The event, which was held at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, aimed to draw on Ireland's unique experience of conflict resolution with a view to supporting and encouraging those who strive for peace in other parts of the world. The panel of high profile speakers, who were moderated by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, provided fascinating accounts of their first hand experience of diverse aspects of the peace process in Northern Ireland. The conference focused on a number of key themes, including the political process which led to and sustains the Good Friday Agreement, policing and justice issues, the manner in which different traditions have been accommodated and respected and the international dimension to the achievement of the settlement.

The focus was on sharing universal experiences and the message, that with political will and leadership, the seemingly impossible can be achieved. Discussions were frank and open throughout. As the Tánaiste highlighted earlier today, the international response to the conference has been very positive. Ireland has already drawn praise for hosting this unique event and for making a real contribution to the conflict resolution efforts in the OSCE.

With the success of these recent conferences behind us, we now look forward to the upcoming Dublin conference on Internet freedom. The event to be held in Dublin Castle on 18 and 19 June will bring together more than 200 OSCE delegates, members of civil society and representatives of the ICT and media sectors in Ireland and abroad. This important conference has been much discussed in this House and no doubt Members will be interested in it.

An OSCE ministerial council will be held in Dublin on 6 and 7 December. This conference, which will be the largest meeting of Foreign Ministers ever to be held in Ireland, is likely to be worth approximately €2 million to the economy of Dublin, based on Fáilte Ireland figures for the likely spend per delegate. We will continue to ensure that OSCE chairmanship events make a valuable contribution to the Irish economy.

The OSCE continues to engage fully in the important work of building security and stability across its geographical area. In 1975, the Helsinki Final Act, the organisation's foundation document, heralded a new vision in European security, pledging to end east-west divisions and to build a more secure Europe. As the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act beckons in 2015, we have an opportunity to reflect on the contribution the OSCE can make in tackling these global challenges and how the organisation can ensure its continuing effectiveness.

Deputy Clare Daly spoke about Kazakhstan and Deputy McConalogue spoke similarly about Ukraine. There are human rights in both countries. Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Ukrainian Prime Minister, was tried and imprisoned, and recently came off a hunger strike. That is the country that will succeed us. It would be expected that Ukraine would be held to a much higher level of scrutiny when it takes over from Ireland at the helm of the OSCE. We cannot go into great detail on the issue in Kazakhstan to which Deputy Clare Daly referred, as it is a country outside our direct concern. I understand there is no consensus at present on Kazakhstan's period as chair. However, it was an important part of a longer-term process towards greater democratisation. It has a long way to go, but its membership of the OSCE strengthens that process rather than weakening it. The OSCE's election observer mission did not shy away from strong criticism of the conduct of elections in Kazakhstan in 2011.

Deputy Mac Lochlainn referred to difficulties with certain countries in the Middle East and in particular the almost intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is an issue with which the OSCE and the Quartet are obviously grappling at present. The OSCE invited an Israeli delegation to its deliberations in trying to resolve it.

Many Members raised the issue of the Roma community. The OSCE, under the chairmanship of the Tánaiste, has highlighted trafficking and the Roma community on which considerable work is being done. The former Supreme Court judge, Mrs. Justice Catherine McGuinness, has been appointed to pursue that matter further. I thank Members for their contributions to the debate.