John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 270: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on his recent trip to the United States; his discussions with Senator Edward Kennedy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39319/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I travelled to the United States from 29 November 2005, returning on the morning of 2 December 2005, during which visit I attended meetings in New York and Washington, DC. On 30 November, at the United Nations in New York, I met the UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, and the President of the UN General Assembly, Mr. Jan Eliasson of Sweden. I reviewed with them progress in the implementation of key elements of the outcome of the UN world summit of last September, including the peacebuilding commission, the human rights council and management reform at the UN. I told them that Ireland would remain fully engaged in the process of implementation and assured them of the Government's support for their efforts in this regard. The UN Secretary General reiterated his support for the role that EU battlegroups can play in UN-authorised peacekeeping.

Afterwards I attended a lunch at the United Nations to mark the 50th anniversary of Ireland's membership of the UN, which falls this month. The lunch was organised by the Irish Studies Department of New York University, Glucksman House, and was attended by the UN Secretary General and senior UN officials as well as invited guests drawn largely from the Irish-American community.

On 1 December 2005 I had meetings with Senator Edward Kennedy and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington DC. I also had the opportunity to speak with the US Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, Dr. Mitchell Reiss, and to brief him on current developments.

I was delighted to meet Senator Kennedy, who has been a generous and committed friend to Ireland throughout his many years in office. I took the opportunity to thank the Senator for his unstinting support for the peace process and underlined the continued importance of close US engagement in Northern Ireland. We discussed recent developments and I stressed the Government's determination to take concrete steps towards the restoration of devolved Government at the earliest opportunity next year.

The Senator and I also discussed the welfare of undocumented Irish people in the US. We reviewed the overall prospects for US legislative reform and I expressed our deep appreciation for his exceptional efforts on this issue in Congress. I also briefed the Senator on the Shannon issue.

In my meeting with Secretary Rice later that day, we discussed a number of bilateral and foreign policy issues. The bilateral discussions concerned developments in Northern Ireland, US immigration law reform and the question of extradition between the US and Ireland. The foreign policy issues discussed were the Middle East peace process, Iraq, Afghanistan and UN reform, as well as rendition allegations and related issues.