Johnny Brady (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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Question 20: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will confirm that Ireland will not open diplomatic relations with Burma until Aung San Suu Kyi is released from house arrest; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4201/07]

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 31: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the latest contact he has had with the military regime in Burma regarding the detention of the pro-democracy leader in that country; if he has discussed her detention with his European colleagues in recent times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3949/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 31 together.

I can confirm categorically that no steps will be taken to develop diplomatic relations with Burma until Aung San Suu Kyi is released from house arrest. I remain deeply concerned that Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained continuously for more than three years without charge and would, once again, urge the Burmese government to restore fully her freedom and civil liberties.

There have been no recent direct bilateral contacts with the Government of Burma. However, at the ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Summit held in Helsinki last September, the Taoiseach raised the situation in Burma in the presence of the Burmese Foreign Minister, calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. The Burmese Foreign Minister attended as a member of ASEAN (the Association of South East Asian Nations — whose members are part of the ASEM process). Burma was the only participant at the Summit not invited at Head of State or Government level. The EU Troika met with the Foreign Minister in the margins of the Summit to reinforce the EU's strong concerns about the lack of progress in Burma. We continue to raise the issue of Burma with our ASEAN partners at every appropriate opportunity and I welcome their increased efforts to put pressure on the Burmese régime.

In my statement to the 61st Session of the UN General Assembly on 26 September 2006, I referred to the particularly grave human rights situation in Burma, and called once again on the Burmese régime to move towards democracy and to release all political prisoners, in particular Aung San Suu Kyi.

The situation in Burma was most recently discussed at the EU General Affairs and External Council Meeting in Luxembourg on 12 June 2006. Subsequently, the UN Security Council included Burma on its agenda on 29 September when it was briefed by UN Under-Secretary-General (UNUSG) Gambari, who had visited Burma in May. In a welcome development, UNUSG Gambari paid a second visit to the country in November. These visits were the first high-level visits to that country by a UN representative in more than two years. I welcome the fact that during his visits Mr Gambari was able to meet with the most senior Burmese leaders, as well as with Aung San Suu Kyi and representatives of her party, the National League for Democracy.

While I strongly welcome the inclusion of Burma on the Security Council agenda, I regret the recent failure of the Council to adopt a draft resolution calling on the Government to cease military attacks against civilians in ethnic minority regions and to begin a substantive political dialogue that would lead to a genuine democratic transition. It is vitally important that the Burmese government allow the UN to play a role in promoting common ground between the government and the National League for Democracy, so that the National Convention can proceed in a more inclusive way. Without broader representation, including, and in particular, that of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the usefulness of the National Convention, whose task is to draft a new constitution, will be very severely limited.