Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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179. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if consideration has been given to restructuring of the UN with a view to enhancing its capacity to intervene and create safe havens in areas of conflict thereby minimising loss of life, torture and abuse of human rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3521/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The United Nations plays a critical role in the maintenance of international peace and security and in the resolution of conflicts, which are at the root of the migration and humanitarian crises facing the world today. It does this primarily through the UN Security Council which has a variety of tools at its disposal to address threats to international peace and to contribute towards the resolution of conflicts: it has the power to authorise military action, deploy peacekeeping and political missions, and to impose sanctions against non-compliant States.

The blockages at the Security Council in recent years have prevented the international community from acting together in a way that would allow civilians in conflict zones to be afforded greater protection. I believe that, in addition to the terrible consequences for civilian populations, this inaction has resulted in considerable damage to the standing of the Security Council.

As a member of the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency (ACT) group of states, Ireland advocates for reforms to the membership and working methods of the Security Council, including the use of the veto which, on some occasions, has led to inaction by the Security Council at critical moments. Ideally, Ireland would like to see the veto rights of the existing permanent members of the Security Council ended. In 2015, Ireland associated itself with a declaration presented by France and Mexico calling on permanent members of the Security Council to voluntarily waive their right to exercise their veto in cases of mass atrocity.

While decisions of the Security Council, which are key to the maintenance of international peace and security and the welfare of civilians in conflict zones, are the preserve of Member States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Guterres, who took office on 1 January, has announced a number of measures aimed at improving the working of the peace and security architecture of the UN Secretariat.

These measures include steps to remove structural and bureaucratic barriers in the UN Secretariat with the objective of better integrating the efforts of staff who carry out work in relation to conflict zones. Mr. Guterres is to appoint an internal team to take stock of the recommendations from three major peace and security reviews which were completed in 2015. Ireland engaged fully with all three reviews, calling for the recommendations to be discussed and implemented as part of our broader calls for UN reform. We will continue to engage on these reviews in the period ahead. Mr. Guterres has also announced that he intends to enhance the role of the UN Operations and Crisis Centre so that this crisis hub can better collate and consolidate information from across the UN system in a timely manner.

Ireland will continue to advocate, including with the new Secretary General, for reform of the UN to ensure that it is equipped to respond to the challenges of the twenty-first century and to fulfil its critical role in the prevention, reduction or resolution of conflict, and more broadly in the maintenance of international peace and security.