Seán Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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Question 86: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the way Ireland will vote at the next meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group in relation to the US India agreement; when the next meeting of this group will take place; and if he expects this matter to be concluded at the next meeting. [34508/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Last year President Bush of the United States and Prime Minister Singh of India agreed to establish a new strategic partnership between their two countries. One element of that partnership was a proposed agreement on civil nuclear cooperation. During a visit to India by President Bush on 2 March 2006, the two leaders announced that agreement had been reached.

The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a group of 45 participating countries, including Ireland, with agreed guidelines governing the export of items that are specially designed or prepared for nuclear use and for nuclear related dual-use goods. Under these guidelines the export of such items to India is prohibited and the question has arisen whether the guidelines should be changed, or an exemption granted to India so that the proposed US-India agreement may proceed. Given India's position as a non-signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), this raises some fundamental concerns for Ireland.

Since the 2 March announcement, three discussions on the proposed agreement have been held at the NSG. Ireland has played an active role, along with several other countries, in seeking both to question and to clarify a number of issues relating to the agreement. Some of the questions related to the proposed parallel safeguards agreement between India and the IAEA, as well as plans to separate India's civil and military nuclear facilities.

In the margins of the most recent NSG meeting in Vienna on 11-13 October, representatives of the Indian Government were in attendance to brief NSG participants. We welcomed this first direct engagement by India with the NSG and took the opportunity to raise a number of our concerns. This particular NSG meeting was not empowered to take decisions but provided a further occasion to exchange information and share perspectives.

On 18 October I received the Prime Minister of India's Special Envoy on Civil Nuclear Cooperation, Mr Shyam Saran. He set out clearly the Indian Government's argument that the deal would in practice strengthen non-proliferation. This view has also been taken by Dr El Baradei, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). While recognizing India's energy needs and its great and growing economic and political importance, I conveyed to him Ireland's deep-rooted commitment to the NPT and reiterated our disappointment that India remained outside it. I also stressed Ireland's concerns over the potential impact of the deal on the NPT and the global disarmament and non-proliferation regime. Useful technical discussions were also held at official level.

The next NSG Plenary meeting is currently scheduled for April 2007 in South Africa. It is uncertain whether participants at this meeting will be called upon to make a final decision. This will largely depend on the pace and outcome of India's negotiations with the IAEA, as well as of the legislative process in the United States.

Ultimately, our final view will depend on our assessment of the potential impact of the deal on the global non-proliferation regime, but also on the approach taken by normally like-minded countries and the overall balance of views within the NSG.