Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Question 180: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position regarding the Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi; the initiatives taken by him or his European counterparts to secure her release; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45683/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest following the decision of the military junta in Burma on 27 May to extend her detention for a further year.

At that time I condemned the decision of the Burmese authorities and called on them to rescind the order and to release her immediately. I said that her release would be a humanitarian gesture to a woman who has spent more than 12 of the last 18 years in detention without charge, and would provide real substance and significance to the regime's professed goal of a return to civilian democratic government in the country.

I have since repeated this call on a number of occasions, including in my address to the United Nations General Assembly on 29 September and most recently following the imposition on 11 November of prison sentences of up to 65 years on a number of respected political activists in Burma.

Ireland remains committed to helping the Burmese people in their struggle for justice, democracy and development. In pursuit of this goal, the Government has engaged in diplomatic activity at Ministerial and senior official level with Burma's neighbours and in international fora. I welcome in this regard the fact that the Asia-Europe (ASEM) Summit on 24/25 October, which was attended by the Taoiseach, adopted a very positive position on the Burmese situation. The support of countries in the Asia region is crucial to a resolution of the problems in Burma.

EU Foreign Ministers last discussed Burma at their meeting on 10 November. We called again for the lifting of restrictions placed on political parties in Burma and the early release of those under detention. We also stated our view that the elections scheduled in Burma for 2010 will have no credibility unless all political prisoners are released unconditionally, in particular Aung San Suu Kyi, and a political process is initiated with the support of the United Nations on the basis of an inclusive, long-term dialogue in which the opposition and ethnic groups can participate fully.

We also reaffirmed our firm and unconditional support for the UN Secretary-General's Mission of Good Offices and welcomed his renewed personal commitment to ending the current deadlock. In this context, I welcome the statement made by the Secretary General at a press conference on 5 December that he is ready to visit Burma whenever he can have reasonable expectations that his visit will be productive and meaningful.