Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 103: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the current political situation in Haiti; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26917/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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In the 18 months since former President Bertrand Aristide resigned and left Haiti in February 2004, the political situation in the country has remained volatile and insecure. The transitional government led by Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has had very limited success in stabilising the security situation in the country and the Haitian national police continues to struggle to maintain law and order.

With the help of the international community, the transitional Government has been working towards holding free and fair elections. The transitional Government intends to conduct the elections in two phases later this year, first holding local elections and subsequently holding parliamentary and presidential elections with a view to having a democratically elected Haitian government in place by February 2006. However, there is no confirmed date for the elections. There has, however, been good progress on election registration, with approximately 75% of possible voters now registered.

The United Nations mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH, led by Brazil, is working with local authorities to launch civic education programmes to prepare for the elections and is co-operating in demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration efforts. It is also playing an important role in combating urban armed gangs which continue to pose a major barrier to security in the slums of Haiti's cities. In June 2005, the Security Council extended the mission in Haiti until February 2006 and approved a temporary increase in its strength to provide increased security in advance of the elections. The Security Council also urged the Haitian authorities to increase and accelerate efforts to prepare for and ensure the smooth conduct of the elections and called on international donors to provide the necessary resources to support the election process.

The EU is also actively involved in efforts to restore democracy to Haiti. At an EU-Latin American ministerial meeting which I attended in Luxembourg on 27 May 2005, the importance of comprehensive long-term aid to enable the Haitian people to work towards the establishment of a violence-free inclusive democratic system was acknowledged. The EU pledged €294 million for comprehensive development projects in the country at the Washington donor conference for Haiti which took place in July 2004. Furthermore, the European Commission recently undertook an exploratory mission to Haiti to examine whether an EU election observation mission would be possible. The EuropeAid Co-operation Office is seeking nominations for long and short-term observers.