Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Question 134: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, further to the need for transparency and accountability in the control of exports of military and dual use goods here, his views on the fact that his Department's website has not been updated on these and other issues since November 2002. [11530/06]

Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is fully seized of the need for oversight and public transparency in the area of export licensing of military and dual use goods. This issue was addressed in the 2004 Forfás review of Ireland's export controls, which recommended that an annual report be laid before the Oireachtas on the licensing and export of military and dual use goods. The new export control legislation being prepared by my Department will provide for such reports and it is my intention to present the first such report, in respect of licensing activity in 2006, in 2007.

The export licensing pages of the website are updated on a regular basis, for example, to reflect changes in the lists of controlled goods. However, we ceased publication of licence numbers because they did not reflect the volume of military goods exported and, therefore, gave a misleading impression of such exports. It is anticipated that a more substantive revision of the website will be undertaken in the next few months, in the context of the imminent introduction of the on-line electronic licensing application system, with a view to better meeting the information needs of industry and other stakeholders.