Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 275: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his contacts with the Democratic Republic of Congo particularly in respect of the forthcoming elections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23381/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Presidential and parliamentary elections are now scheduled to take place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on 30 July 2006. These will be the first multi-party elections in the DRC in over 40 years. A total of 33 candidates will contest the presidency while some 260 political parties and over 9,300 candidates will compete for the 500 legislative seats in the new parliament. Over 25 million people out of an estimated potential electorate of 28 million have registered to vote.

Successfully conducted elections are absolutely critical to the consolidation of peace and security in the DRC and in the Great Lakes Region as a whole. The international community, including Ireland and its EU partners, is investing heavily in ensuring that the forthcoming elections are successful, given the major organisational challenge they represent for a country the size of western Europe with extremely poor basic infrastructure and ongoing security problems. The EU and its Member States alone are contributing some €235 million towards the overall cost of the elections which are estimated at well over $300 million. The EU will also deploy a 250-strong electoral observation mission to monitor the elections.

Nationally, Ireland is also actively supporting the electoral process in the DRC. I was pleased to announce an initial contribution of €500,000 to the UNDP Trust Fund established to meet the costs of the elections, following my meeting last September with the Foreign Minister of the DRC, Mr. Raymond Ramazani Baya, en marge of the UN General Assembly. A further contribution of €800,000 was announced by my Department last month in support of the South African Independent Electoral Commission which is assisting in the logistical organisation and oversight of the elections. The Government has also decided to provide up to ten Permanent Defence Force personnel to serve with the EUFOR RDC mission which the EU is deploying, at UN request, to provide support, if required, to the UN MONUC peace-keeping mission during the electoral period. Ireland also provides three members of the PDF who serve with MONUC while the Government has also contributed over €11 million for emergency and recovery activities in the DRC since 2002, almost €5 million of which has been provided to date in 2006.

Ireland's diplomatic relations with the DRC are handled through our Embassy in South Africa. Officers from the Embassy visit and regularly report on political developments in the DRC, including election preparations and the difficult security situation in eastern DRC, as well as the important role being played by South Africa in support of successful completion of the transition process in the DRC. My Department also maintains regular contact with representatives of the Congolese community based in Ireland.