Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 28: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will support the lifting of restrictions on the Basque political party Batasuna to allow the development of a genuinely inclusive political process in the Basque country. [2906/11]

Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 38: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position regarding recent developments and the prospects for peace in the Basque country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2866/11]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 41: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will welcome the recent declaration of a permanent ceasefire by ETA and welcome the opportunities this initiative provides to bring a lasting peace to the Basque country. [2905/11]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 28, 38 and 41 together.

I would be supportive of any development that could contribute to the permanent ending of violence by ETA and lead to peace in the Basque Country. I would pay particular heed and be guided in the first instance in this by the assessment of the Spanish authorities.

In that context, I have noted the statements by the Spanish Government and indeed by other political parties and groups in Spain on the most recent ETA ceasefire announcement on 10 January. The Spanish Government has stated that while this development represents some progress towards a definitive end to ETA's campaign of violence, the content of the statement is nonetheless insufficient to warrant any change in current Spanish Government policy. Both Prime Minister Zapatero and Interior Minister Rubalcaba have said that what ETA needs to do is to abandon its arms and declare its own dissolution as a terrorist organisation, unconditionally and in a definitive and irreversible manner.

The Spanish Government has also been clear that any change in the status of the currently illegal Batasuna party is dependent on either ETA definitively and irreversibly leaving violence behind, or the breaking of all ties between Batasuna and ETA. I also note the continuing active consultations among all democratic parties in Spain and in the Basque Country on how the Basque Government could best take forward the search for peace and the meetings which took place last week between Prime Minister Zapatero and elected Basque political leaders. I very much welcome this process.