Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 48: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on UN reform, in particular in light of the US President's recent call for India to form part of an expanded Security Council. [43159/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland believes strongly in the need for reform of the United Nations aimed at improving the performance and effectiveness of the Organisation so that it can continue to provide necessary leadership to develop effective multilateral responses to the major global challenges.

The reform task includes, in particular, reform of the major UN organs so that they are fit for purpose and adjusted to twenty-first century realities. The case for reform of the UN Security Council is particularly urgent. Its current composition is outdated and must be expanded to include, for example, greater representation from Africa and from countries making a significant contribution to the Organisation. The General Assembly, which is currently wrestling with this most difficult of reform issues, needs to be creative and consider all options and interim models which might command broad consensus. Securing early agreement on reforming the Council's working methods and improving its transparency should also be a priority in the current inter-governmental discussions underway in the General Assembly.

In this regard, it is to be hoped that recent moves by some UN members to further crystallise their views in relation to Security Council reform, including U.S. President Obama's announcement of support for India securing permanent membership of the Security Council as well as UK Foreign Secretary Hague's announcement of support for Brazil becoming a permanent member, is indicative of renewed impetus for meaningful progress on Security Council reform.

A further reform priority for Ireland, together with our EU partners, concerns UN budgetary management. The current extremely difficult budgetary environment that so many countries are facing makes clear the need to adopt a critical attitude towards UN expenditure and ensure that the Organisation makes the best use of the resources with which it is provided. Ireland, and our EU partners, have been to the forefront in advocating that the whole system for apportioning expenses within the UN needs to be urgently reviewed and reformed. At present, EU Member States collectively contribute almost 40% of the UN's Budget, even though our share of global GDP only amounts to just over 30%. This is not a sustainable position and needs to be urgently addressed in the review of this issue which has now been mandated by the General Assembly.

I would also highlight Ireland's continuing strong support for reform of the UN's development architecture, where we have provided over €6 million to date in support of UN System Wide Coherence and the Delivering as One programme. Under Ireland's co-chairmanship (with Tanzania) at the close of the 2007-2008 UN General Assembly, a consensus resolution was passed which gave broad support to the Delivering As One approach and helped to advance its agenda.

The Delivering as One approach is now yielding significant positive results in terms of greater coherence in UN development activities and improved delivery of services. I warmly welcome in this context the recent establishment of a new consolidated UN agency promoting gender equality, UN Women.