Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Question 53: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his priorities for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe once Ireland assumes the presidency in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20125/11]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Ireland will chair the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) from January 2012 for one year. Comprising 56 participating States from Europe, Central Asia and North America, the OSCE deals with a range of issues in areas such as democratisation, human rights, arms control and conflict resolution. As Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, I will be the Chairperson-in-Office for the duration of our chairmanship and will bear overall responsibility for the executive action of the organisation and the co-ordination of its activities. Preparations for the OSCE Chairmanship began last year and, to this end, a dedicated OSCE Taskforce has been established in my Department.

Last month, I addressed the OSCE in Vienna to provide an outline of Ireland's plans and priorities and my full statement is available on the Department's website. The Chairmanship will be used to promote a number of thematic priorities, which are currently being elaborated in co-operation with relevant Government Departments. The priorities will be finalised over the course of this year, in consultation with other participating States and our OSCE Troika partners, current Chair, Lithuania and previous Chair, Kazakhstan.

Human rights, known as the Human Dimension within the OSCE context, will be a key priority, with a particular focus on freedom of the media, and in particular, digital media. In the Economic and Environmental dimension, we plan to focus on governance issues. In the Politico-Military Dimension, Ireland will hope to see continued progress on updating confidence and security building measures and enhancing the conflict prevention capacity of the organisation. I will also give priority to facilitating efforts to resolve the protracted conflicts, drawing on expertise in conflict resolution.