Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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646. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the proposals he has made to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki-moon, to put new structures in place, given that the current structures are outdated, and the lack of effectiveness of the United Nations in dealing with conflict in many parts of the world and the political changes over many decades; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7090/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The United Nations celebrated its 70th anniversary last year, and like any organisation of that age, there are a number of structures, systems and procedures that need to be updated to better reflect the diverse and complex needs of the 21st century. There is a growing recognition that despite its considerable achievements and successes, there have also been a number of serious failures. The government believes that a UN reform agenda must be put in place to make the organisation more transparent and accountable, and to ensure that the structures and procedures of the UN are effective. I have maintained contact with the UN Secretary General since his visit to Ireland in May 2015 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Ireland joining the UN. In September of last year I used our bilateral meeting on the margins of the UN General Assembly to discuss the role of the United Nations in addressing a number of the major conflicts threatening international peace and security, and the need for sustained UN engagement not just in peacekeeping and responding to crisis situations, but also in terms of peacebuilding and conflict prevention. In the latter half of 2015, the Secretary General initiated three major UN review exercises which were aimed at improving the overall effectiveness of the UN’s response to conflict. The high level policy reviews on (1) UN Peace Operations, (2) Peacebuilding Architecture and (3) Women, Peace and Security were published. Each of the reviews offered recommendations on how the UN can improve and reform its functions and structures particularly in relation to the global challenge presented by conflict, war and implementing peace operations.

My department engaged fully with all three reviews, calling for the recommendations to be discussed and implemented as part of our broader calls for UN reform. Ireland co-sponsored one of the three reviews, and was involved in the co-launch of the Global Study on Women, Peace and Security in October 2015.

Ireland is also strongly supportive of Security Council reform and has consistently stated that the Council needs to become more representative, more transparent and more efficient. We have been frustrated with many of the blockages on the Council which have had such disastrous consequences for the resolution of conflicts in various parts of the world, most notably Syria.

Just last month, Ireland delivered a statement during the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council reform calling for an expansion of the Security Council membership and for the veto of the five permanent members (P5) of the Council to only be used in very extreme situations. Ireland is a member of ACT, the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency group in the UN, that calls for a more accountable and transparent UN system. We are a strong supporter of the ACT Code of Conduct calling on all member states, including the P5, to support timely and decisive action by the Security Council aimed at preventing or ending genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.