Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 39: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his efforts concerning the kidnapping of Irish journalist, Rory Carroll; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33566/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I know that everyone in this House was delighted by the release of Mr. Rory Carroll and shared the enormous sense of relief felt by all people in Ireland. I pay tribute to the dignity and composure of the Carroll family throughout their whole ordeal.

I wish also to record the Government's appreciation to all who helped achieve this happy outcome. In particular, throughout the ordeal, we maintained the closest contact with three EU partners, Britain, France and Italy, whose co-operation, both in their capitals and on the ground in Baghdad, was quite outstanding. In addition, the interim Iraqi Government and the Iranian authorities were helpful. I also thank the Muslim community here in Dublin for their concern and support. Finally, I thank most sincerely the Opposition parties for their understanding and co-operation throughout.

Throughout the 36 hours that Mr. Carroll was abducted, the Government used every opportunity to emphasise his Irishness. To cover all eventualities, the Taoiseach and I decided, based on professional advice from Baghdad, to put an Irish team on the ground in Iraq, led by a senior ambassador and including Garda and Defence Force personnel. We believed that it was vital to have our people on the spot to ensure our direct input into discussions and decision making there. The team would, of course, have remained in constant contact with the Government here, and would have sent their assessments back to us for decision at political level here, in consultation with the Carroll family. The EU maintains a close collaboration with the United States on this issue. The scope of co-operation is set out in the Dromoland Castle Declaration of June 2004 and covers such areas as the financing of terrorism, increased police, judicial and security co-operation, international transport safety and border controls, dealing with the consequences of terrorist attacks, recruitment to terrorism and enhancing the ability of vulnerable states and third countries to meet terrorist attacks.

The fight against terrorism is a major priority of the Justice and Home Affairs Council. The adoption of anti-terrorist measures is dealt with extensively in the Hague programme on strengthening freedom, security and justice in the European Union which was endorsed by the European Council in November 2004.

Over the past 18 months, much has been achieved as regards internal aspects of the declaration and the action plan. Transport security has been improved. Europol and Eurojust have provided effective support in combating terrorism. All 25 member states have had their counter terrorism arrangements evaluated and a strategy for tackling radicalisation and recruitment is in development.

A number of legislative measures have been adopted by the Justice and Home Affairs Council in this area, including a framework decision on the European arrest warrant and the framework decision on combating terrorism. Ongoing work in the Council includes negotiations on a European evidence warrant as well as proposals relating to the exchange of information between law enforcement authorities.

Following the London bombings on 7 July 2005, the Justice and Home Ministers met in a special session on 13 July and unanimously agreed a declaration that brought forward deadlines in the action plan on terrorism, identified four themes for future action and accelerated the Commission's programme of work. Furthermore, member states made new proposals to combat the terrorist threat. The measures agreed by the 13 July Council reflect four key policy objectives: the need to pursue and investigate terrorists across borders; the need to prevent people turning to terrorism; the need to protect citizens and infrastructure from terrorist attacks; and the need to prepare ourselves to manage and minimise the consequences of a terrorist attack. It is expected that the Council will agree an updated counter-terrorism framework in the coming months.