Thank you for your encouraging words and welcome. We were certainly encouraged yesterday on our return to the Dáil to receive the welcome which we did and the support which is vital to all of us in our efforts to establish peace on this island.
I was very pleased to have the opportunity early this year to have discussions with your committee on the revised Estimates for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation for 1993. It was a most useful exchange of views and I look forward to having a similar exchange and exercise next year on the 1994 Estimates.
The specific matter for consideration today is the Supplementary Estimate of £1,904,000 arising on the International Co-operation Vote for 1993. This is made up of an excess of £1.824 million on Subhead A of the Vote — Contributions to International Organisations. There is in addition an excess of £100,000 on Subhead — Assistance to Eastern Europe. Adjusted for an anticipated saving of £20,000 under Subhead B on our mandatory contribution to the CSCE in 1993, the net requirement is for a Supplementary Estimate of £1.904 million.
The greater part of the Supplementary Estimate relates to the increased cost of Ireland's financial contribution to United Nations peacekeeping operations in 1993. This arises in the main from the fact that the major operations, in Somalia, former Yugoslavia and Cambodia, have all cost substantially more in 1993 than could have been anticipated. In addition, substantial costs arise from the establishment of the UN operation in Mozambique last December. The mission in Angola has also resulted in increased assessments for UN member states.
It was decided in June 1993 that financing of the UN operation in Cyprus, which had previously been funded by voluntary contributions, should in future be financed by way of mandatory assessed contributions by member states. The establishment during 1993 of new missions in Rwanda, Georgia and Liberia — and provision for one in Haiti — will have financial implications for the future.
The dramatic escalation in peace-keeping expenditure by the UN in the past five years in unprecedented in its history. From a figure of $231 million in 1988, spending has risen to $2,700 million this year to date. The final figure is expected to be over $3 billion for 1993. In common with other member states of the United Nations, Ireland is legally obliged under Article 17.2 of the UN Charter to pay its mandatory assessed contribution to the peacekeeping budget. I believe it is right to continue as we have always done — to pay our mandatory contributions in full and on time.
Underlying this Supplementary Estimate is the fact that it has become impossible to forecast accurately the extent of our contribution to the peace-keeping budget over a period of a year. The peace-keeping operation now in the field vary significantly in size, mandates, duration and costs. Some are likely to continue to expand, others are in a wind-down phase but it is clear that the overall cost of UN peace-keeping is likely to increase for the foreseeable future.
In his report on the financial situation of the United Nations published on 18 October 1993, the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, underlined that "as regards peace-keeping, accurate cash flow projections for all but the most stable of operations are virtually impossible to make with any degree of accuracy . . . . experience has shown that the pattern of payments by member states is not susceptible to accurate forecasting. Consequently, no attempt is made to project peace-keeping cash flow for the balance of the year."
It is clear that the main reason for what the Secretary-General has described as the "critical" cash flow problem facing the United Nations is the failure of many member states to pay their contributions to the regular and peace-keeping budgets in full and on time. The Secretary-General said on 24 November 1993 that only 71 member states had paid their 1993 assessments in full by that date and that by the end of the year a total of $400 million will be owed to troop contributing countries, which include Ireland.
Since I last addressed this committee, I have again raised with the Secretary-General the unfair burden borne by those troop contributing nations who pay their own peace-keeping and regular budget assessments on time. I am glad to inform Deputies that some progress is being made in this respect and that we have received three payments on peace-keeping arrears during 1993. Two of these payments followed my meeting with the Secretary-General in September and amount to a total of just over £2.8 million. Ireland is still owed £11.4 million in peace-keeping arrears and I will continue to press this matter on every appropriate occasion with the Secretary-General and with those member states who are significantly in arrears.
I would like to comment on the current position with regard to several of the UN operations of particular interest and concern.
Of those peace-keeping operations which have broken new ground, the UNOSOM II mission in Somalia is the most important. In my statement to the joint committee on 29 June 1993, I went into considerable detail on the background to UNOSOM II and the evolution in traditional peace-keeping which it represented. The Dáil agreed on 6 July 1993, under the terms of the Defence (Amendment) Act, 1993, to the despatch of a contingent of the Defence Forces to serve with UNOSOM II. Our 80-strong transport unit is located in Baidoa and its period of deployment will expire at the end of February 1994. The question of our continued participation in UNOSOM II will be reviewed early next year. The Security Council will itself undertake a fundamental review of the mandate of UNOSOM II by 1 February 1994. More generally, under the terms of the Defence (Amendment) Act, 1993, the Dáil will have the opportunity in the New Year to consider a report on Irish participation in UN peace-keeping for 1993.
UNOSOM II is the largest and most challenging peace operation ever undertaken by the UN. Some of the events earlier this year in Somalia will, understandably, have caused concern. As I said in my statement to the UN General Assembly on 1 Octofiber, the overriding objective of the UN in Somalia must be political reconciliation and national reconstruction. The situation has improved considerably and I am satisfied that the primary of the humanitarian and political objectives of the mission are now generally accepted. UNOSOM II appears now to be on the right path and I believe that the lessons from the UN experience in Somalia are being absorbed.
Ireland's largest single contribution to UN peace-keeping continues to be in Lebanon where a contingent of 681 personnel is currently serving. In July, the Security Council renewed the UNIFIL mandate for a further six-month period to 31 January 1994 and in October the Government decided to maintain our commitment to the force.
The security situation in the Irish area of operations in South Lebanon remains of paramount concern. The Taoiseach and I made strong representations to the Israeli authorities arising from the sustained bombardment of the area in July. The agreement reached in September between Israel and the PLO is, of course, a major development, but we have also seen in recent weeks how difficult the road ahead will be. I am satisfied that UNIFIL will continue to perform a vital function for the foreseeable future both in terms of restoring international peace and security and in contributing to the humanitarian needs of the local population.
We believe that there is an urgent need to improve the operational management and command and control functions, in peace-keeping operations and I devoted a part of my General Assembly statement to these themes. The Irish delegation co-sponsored a General Assembly resolution adopted on 30 November 1993, calling on the Secretary-General to take urgent steps in this area and particularly to improve consultation with the troop contributing countries.
We should not lose sight of the fundamental reason for the deployment of peacekeepers in so many parts of the world nor should we forget the successes of the past year. In Somalia itself, for most of the period since the establishment of UNOSOM II, the country has been peaceful outside the South Mogadishu area. The work of rebuilding the Somali nation is underway and people there no longer starve. The UN operation in Cambodia has achieved considerable success and has now completed its mission there. Ireland provided 12 military officers and 40 gardaí to this operation and thus contributed to the holding of free and fair elections and to the re-establishment of peace in that country.
A fact frequently cited — but none the less sobering for that — is that the amount spent on UN peace-keeping is equivalent to less than 1 per cent of worldwide military expenditure. Ireland is required to pay 0.18 per cent of this. I feel sure that the members of the committee will agree it is in keeping with the basic thrust of our foreign policy that Ireland should continue to discharge fully its financial obligations under the Charter in relation to UN peace-keeping.
I should like to turn briefly now to Subhead I of the Vote. Most of Ireland's assistance to the newly independent countries of Eastern Europe is channelled through multilateral aid programmes such as the PHARE and TACIS programmes of the European Community and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The Department of Foreign Affairs also operates a modest programme of bilateral assistance. The primary purpose of the provision of technical assistance to Eastern Europe is to help the countries of Eastern Europe to emerge from their economic problems. This humanitarian duty also has a political dimension. Assistance of this kind is proper to the vote for international co-operation, although it does not qualify as ODA in the technical sense. An allocation of £280,000 is extremely modest in comparison with what our EC partners are doing in this field.
The bilateral technical assistance takes the form of providing grants to Irish consultancy companies active in the region. The level of assistance provided has been modest and demand from consultants is very great and exceeds the supply of funds in the subhead. We propose an additional £100,000 to cope with the increased demand for assistance.
Experience has shown that the assistance given to Eastern Europe from the Vote for International Co-operation has the extremely beneficial side effect of opening doors for Irish companies in Eastern Europe. We know that Irish consultants have obtained follow-on contracts from the EU and the World Bank as a result of initial support provided by the bilateral technical assistance programme. The areas in which we have been able to help include tourism promotion, training, small enterprise development and energy where Irish companies and State bodies have a successful track record.
This year for the first time Ireland contributed £80,000 to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to set up a fund for use by Irish consultants in Eastern Europe. Again, this should give Irish consultants access to more EBRD work. In conclusion, I commend this Supplementary Estimate for your approval.