Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I join in welcoming the Minister of State to the House and I compliment him and the Minister, Deputy Cowen, on the work they have done. I especially welcome the announcement by the Government that €3 million in humanitarian and recovery aid is to be given to Iraq. As the Minister of State has said, it is important that this is not being done at the expense of the Government's programme for the poorest areas of Africa. He said the focus in providing this money for Iraq was to target the pressing needs of women and children in particular. He went on to stress the crucial role that the United Nations should play in Iraq's recovery. That is important given that to date we have already given €5 million, which has been disbursed through the Red Cross, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, Concern, Trócaire and GOAL. The response has been positive as regards the humanitarian crisis there.

I am glad we are having this debate on Iraq. It may be difficult to see some of the improvements that have been talked about. In the north and south of the country there have been some signs of improvement, but the situation is still very volatile in the area west of Baghdad. The debate has been welcome at UN level. I notice the United States is waiting for matters to unfold in Iraq and it is neither delaying nor hastening the process. At the same time people such as President Chirac stress the need for a quick transfer of sovereignty in accordance with a clear timetable and say the UN should support that. Chancellor Schröder has been talking about the importance of strengthening the role of the UN, something with which we in this House would all agree. I hope serious moves will now be afoot to move towards that transfer of sovereignty. We should be mindful of the issue of security because of the terrible atrocities that have been carried out, as regards the United Nations headquarters and the International Red Cross. It is a matter of grave concern that when we talk about improving the situation in Iraq, the issue of security is still very much to the forefront.