Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 400: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if Ireland intends to provide election monitoring personnel for the forthcoming Ukraine elections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7041/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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At the request of the Ukrainian Government, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, ODIHR, in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, has established an election observation mission to observe the upcoming parliamentary elections in Ukraine, taking place on 26 March 2006. Participating states have been asked to second long-term and short-term observers to observe these elections.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has already arranged for one long-term observer from Ireland to take part in the OSCE-ODIHR mission, for a duration of ten weeks, and proposes to second a number of short-term observers, subject to agreement with the OSCE. I discussed the upcoming elections with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Mr. Borys Tarasyuk, during his visit to Ireland earlier this month. Minister Tarasyuk pointed to the fact that these elections would be an important test for Ukrainian democracy, and welcomed the fact that Ireland would be supporting the OSCE-ODIHR mission.