Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 19: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will contact the US administration to offer his support in its efforts to close Guantanamo Bay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21866/09]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Government has welcomed the Executive Order issued by President Obama on 22 January announcing that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay should close within one year.

The Minister had a useful discussion with Secretary of State Clinton on the issue when they met over the St Patrick's Day period. At that meeting, he reiterated that we had long called for the closure of the facility at Guantanamo Bay and that we would wish to be helpful in facilitating its closure. This position was subsequently confirmed by the Taoiseach when he indicated that it is incumbent on those who called for the closure of the Guantanamo detention centre to assist the United States in ensuring that certain prisoners be relocated elsewhere and expressed Ireland's readiness to take a small, proportionate number of detainees.

Discussions are ongoing within the EU on a common approach to the various practical and legal issues which arise in the resettlement of former detainees in EU Member States. Contacts have taken place with the US at both EU and national level.

While the question of whether EU Member States might accept former detainees remains a national decision, the Member States are agreed that the EU-level discussions with the United States Administration on this matter should be allowed to take their course.