Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 61: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, with regard to the newly formed Government in Zimbabwe, he will indicate which sanctions have been either lifted, or newly imposed, upon that country. [34201/08]

Shane McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Question 74: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the support measures put in place by the EU to support the transitional Government in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34099/08]

Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 166: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the support measures in place to assist the transitional government in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34093/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 61, 74 and 166 together.

More than three weeks after the signing of a power-sharing agreement between Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, and the Tsvangirai and Mutambara factions of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), there has still been no agreement on forming a Government, and the situation in Zimbabwe remains deeply worrying. Although political violence has greatly diminished, it has not yet stopped. The rate of inflation is almost impossible to calculate, but has now reached unimaginable levels — one US think-tank estimates that it reached 531 billion per cent by the end of September. The World Food Programme estimates that 3.8 million people will require food assistance in October, and that this figure will rise to 5.1 million in January 2009 at its peak.

EU Foreign Ministers stated after our meeting of 15 September that the EU stands ready to support a transitional government which is taking steps to restore democracy and the rule of law in Zimbabwe. That commitment stands, and the EU very much hopes that ongoing dialogue will soon result in the formation of a government of national unity which is credible and reflects the will of the Zimbabwean people, as expressed at the 29 March elections. Ireland supports a co-ordinated international approach to addressing Zimbabwe's problems, once an administration is in place in Harare which is committed to working with us to rebuild the country economically and politically.

Meanwhile, however, the EU is continuing to act on our concern for the suffering of the ordinary people of Zimbabwe at this very difficult time. The European Commission has allocated an additional €10 million in relief assistance for people affected by the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe, while Irish aid to Zimbabwe for the period 2006 to 2008 (to date) amounts to approx €25m.

Zimbabwe is again on the agenda for the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council next Monday, 13 October. Given the disappointing rate of progress in the talks on forming a Transition Government, I do not believe that my colleagues and I will be in a position to lift the EU restrictive measures on the Zimbabwean leadership. We will of course review what we can do to assist our African partners in bringing the ongoing negotiations to a successful conclusion, so that we can begin the real task of working with Zimbabweans to restore peace, stability, and sustainable economic development.