Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I thank Senator Hannigan for sharing time. I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I congratulate him on his new appointment. I wish him well in this responsible job.

A little ray of hope arising from the tragedy that has befallen the Burmese people is the international community giving serious attention, political and otherwise, to the situation in the country. The light is shining on Burma, which was a forgotten country in a sometimes forgotten region. However, because of the media attention, people at least are aware not only of the scale of the current tragedy but are beginning to become acclimatised to the scale of the political problem, which is at the core of all the problems faced by the Burmese people. Burma is ruled by a repressive regime. Historically, the response of all repressive regimes to any natural disaster is to shut the doors and keep out the international community. Repressive regimes do not like international attention being drawn to their countries at a time of difficulty because it causes too many questions to be asked. At least now, the international community in its response to the plight of the Burmese people is beginning to ask the necessary political questions.

In his contribution, the Minister referred to what he called the "responsibility to protect" agreement or clause, which stemmed from the UN world summit in 2005. The responsibility to protect is a very important issue. If the international community exists as a genuine grouping and if the UN is to have any degree of influence — we have discussed that matter so many times here on previous occasions particularly in respect of Iraq — surely we must be in a position to in some way trigger that mechanism because we have a responsibility to protect and intervene in whatever way possible. Food, medical and emergency supplies of all descriptions are necessary but we also have a responsibility to try to bring about political change and dialogue.

Perhaps we must acknowledge that there have been tiny steps forward in Burma. We cannot call it regime change but we can call it political change. This must be very much encouraged and continued because the people of the country in the long run cannot survive under this repressive regime. In the very short term, it is a question of immediate food, medical and support aid.

I congratulate the Government on its efforts to date but much more is required, including from the international community. At EU and UN level, we must try to keep the attention focused on Burma. We are aware of what is happening in China but at least there is a better domestic response there. It is an opportunity for us to take some small advantage of this tragedy to keep the light shining on Burma, its people and its regime and look for the necessary reforms which the people are demanding and for which they have voted but which they have not been allowed implement.