Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 130: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs Ireland's position on the proposed international arms trade treaty; the situation with this proposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17468/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I support the principle of having legally binding international agreements on the control of arms exports, with as wide a participation as possible. This is particularly important with respect to small arms and light weapons which are responsible for widespread death and injury. Ireland is committed to working with others to ensure that the international community deals with the illicit trafficking of such weapons effectively. In this context, Ireland is actively participating in current negotiations in the United Nations on an international instrument to regulate the marking and tracing of small arms and light weapons.

A welcome aspect of the proposed international arms trade treaty, which has been put forward by a number of non-governmental organisations, including Amnesty International and Oxfam, is that the treaty has the objective of setting out states' existing international legal obligations in the area of international transfers of arms. In addition, once ratified, the proposed treaty would enable the international community to move forward incrementally, by means of subsequent more specific instruments, to strengthen international controls on arms transfers.

The text of the draft treaty is being re-examined from a legal perspective by those NGOs involved in the arms control campaign and revisions to the text may be made. While work on the drafting of the text of the proposed treaty is still ongoing, it is a promising initiative and I commend the NGOs concerned for their efforts.

Ireland has participated in several international meetings in which the proposed international arms trade treaty has been discussed. This included attendance at a conference held in November 2003 at Cambridge University in England, the purpose of which was to examine the text of the proposed treaty. An official from my Department also attended an international workshop on enhancing the international export control of small arms and light weapons, the case for an international arms trade treaty, which took place in Helsinki last June. Ireland was also represented at an international workshop on global principles for arms transfers, which took place in Tanzania last February. The Government will ensure that Ireland continues to be associated with the process and will closely monitor developments.