Tairgim:
Go ndeonófar suim nach mó ná £988,000 chun íoctha an mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31ú lá de Mhárta, 1969, le haghaidh Tuarastail agus Costais Oifig an Aire Gnóthaí Eachtracha, agus Seirbhísí áirithe atá faoi riaradh na hOifige sin, lena n-áirítear Deontas-i-gCabhair.
Le cead na Dála, ba mhaith liom Vótaí 45 agus 46 a thógáil le chéile.
An méid atá sa Mheastachán le haghaidh Gnóthaí Eachtracha— £988,000—is méadú glan é de £89,150 ar Mheastachán bunaidh agus Meastachán Forlíontach anuraidh. Tá méadú de £94,500 ins an tsoláthair le haghaidh Tuarastail, Pá agus Liúntaisí. Tá an tsoláthair le haghaidh Seirbhísí Faisnéise árdaithe de suim £11,800 agus taispeántar méadaithe níos lú i bhfó-Mhircinn eile. Tá laghdú de suim £11,000 sa bhfó-Mhirceann a bhaineann le h-Athdúichiú agus Cothú saoránaigh Éireannacha thar lear, agus is lú de £10,700 an tsoláthair le haghaidh Taistil agus Fó-Chostais.
Éiríonn £64,000 den mhéadú de £94,500 sa bhfó-Mhirceann pá de bhárr díluacháil an phuint. Siad leathnú coitianta na Roinne agus gnáth-bhreisiú tuarastail is cúis leis an chuid eile den mhéadú san bhfó-Mhirceann seo.
Tá méadú de £11,800 san tsoláthair le haghaidh Seirbhísí Faisnéise ach mar sin féin níl an fó-Mhirceann seo chómh hárd is a bhí sé san bhliain 1965-66 i suim £39,000. Cé gur mhór áird ar leith a thabhairt ar an bhuanghá chun coigilt a dhéanamh ar chúrsaí airgeadais, measaim nach bhfuil san tsoláthair seo ach an méid is ísle atá riachtanach chun clár faisnéise éifeachtach a choinniú agus a thabhairt chun chinn i mbliana. Mar an gcéanna, tá méadú de £3,000 go £14,000 ar an Deontas-i-gCabhair le haghaidh Comhair Cultúra, mar ceapaim nach bhfuil san tsoláthair seo ach an méid réasúnta is ísle gur féidir é a chur ar chumas an Choisde Comhair Cultúra clár cultúra oiriúnach a mholadh sa bhliain seo.
Tá laghdú de £10,700 agus £11,000 ins na soláthairtí le haghaidh Taistil agus Fó-Chostais agus le haghaidh Athdúichiú agus Cothú saoránaigh Éireannacha go bhfuil gannchúis airgid ortha agus iad thar lear. Chómh fada is a bhaineann sé leis an dá soláthartí seo ba bhliain ar leith í an bhliain seo caite. Nílimíd ag súil leis an oiread san céanna de aistrithe oifigeach i mbliana—ach, ar ndóigh, tá sé andheachair meastachán beacht a dhéanamh ar rud mar sin—agus maidir leis an bhfó-Mhirceann D, bhí costas trom neamhchoitianta de £14,750 ann anuraidh, go háirithe de bhárr athdúichiú saoránaigh Éireannacha ón Nigéir.
An méid atá san Mheastachán um Chomhar Idirnáisiúnta—£261,000—is méadú glan é de £50,090 ar Mheastachán bunaidh agus Meastachán Forlíontach na bliana seo caite. Sé díluacháil an phuint is cúis le £35,000 an mhéadú seo agus tá soláthair nua de £8,050 curtha san áireamh le haghaidh costaisí de thoradh ár ndul i bpáirt leis an gComhaontú Ginearálta um Tharaifí agus Trádáil. Tá méadaithe, taobh amuigh de díluacháil an phuint, in ár ranníocaí do Chomhairle na hEorpa, don Eagras um Chomhar agus Forbairt Eacnamaíochta na hEorpa agus do na Náisiúin Aontaithe. Tá ár ranníocaí deúnach do na Náisiúin Aontaithe beagnach cómhionann, san iomlán, agus a bhí siad anuraidh, ach amháin nach bhfuil aon tsoláthair le haghaidh ranníoca don Fhórsa Éigeandála san Mheán-Oirthear mar tá deireadh leis an Fórsa san anois. Tá fó-Mhirceann nua curtha isteach chun go mbeidh in ár gcumas ranníoca a dhéanamh don Chlár Oideachais agus Oiliúna na Náisiúin Aontaithe don Afraic Theas.
A sum of £28,500 will be provided in this year's Estimate for information services which represents an increase of £11,800 compared with last year. The increase is mainly intended to cover the cost of commissioning of films by my Department, and the production of information booklets.
It can fairly be said that our Information Section and the various State bodies concerned have been successful in recent years in improving the general picture of Ireland abroad as a country possessing a distinctive tradition and culture and displaying the marks of social and economic progress. Few, I think, will doubt the need for continued and expanded efforts to develop favourable attitudes towards Ireland among potential consumers and tourists as well as statesmen and businessmen.
The Department's Bulletin, published fortnightly, is the principal medium through which a continuous flow of information on current developments in Ireland is disseminated to newspapers and other media abroad. It keeps persons and institutions in other countries, particularly those with Irish connections, in touch with developments here, and it draws their attention to Irish exports, to our tourist attractions, and to our cultural life.
In the field of information booklets a French translation of the booklet "Introducing Ireland" entitled "Voici l'Irlande" has recently been issued and will be distributed widely abroad particularly in Europe. A German translation of the same booklet will be issued very shortly by a German publishing company, in a series on various countries. Arrangements for publication of Spanish and Italian texts are envisaged.
The Department's booklet "Facts about Ireland", originally issued in 1962-63, has proved itself to be of the greatest value in providing basic information about Ireland to people in other countries. Plans are well advanced for the publication of a second edition in the near future.
During the year 1967-68 my Department continued its work in the production of films to present many aspects of modern Ireland. Since 1961 my Department has commissioned 11 short films on Irish subjects and is planning a further production this year.
A geography film on Ireland commissioned by my Department for the McGraw-Hill Company of New York has now been completed. The film will be widely distributed to high schools in the United States and Canada, and later in many other countries.
We have also sponsored a new colour film by Mr. Patrick Carey, the maker of the Department's prize-winning film "Yeats Country". The subject of Mr. Carey's new film is Errigal Mountain in County Donegal and it is intended for cinema, television and non-theatrical distribution in Ireland as well as abroad. Roinn na Gaeltachta, Bord Fáilte and Radio Telefís Éireann are associated financially with this production, which will have its première shortly.
In addition to the production of films, my Department intends to continue its practice of purchasing copies of other films on Ireland for supply to our embassies and consular offices for lending to societies, clubs and other community groups abroad.
An important event in the field of films, which will take place next September, will be the holding of the Council of Europe Film Week in Cork in association with the International Film Festival. A selection of short films will be made by the Council of Europe for dubbing into various European languages.
The Government's continued activity in promoting our application for entry into the EEC has imposed on my Department a special duty to make Ireland better known in Europe. The Taoiseach's visits to European capitals within the past year provided invaluable opportunities of doing so. On the occasion of these visits information material of all kinds—books, photographs, and explanatory memoranda on a great variety of Irish topics and aspects of Irish life—were distributed to radio and television authorities, journalists, commentators, editors and writers in the countries visited.
During the year my Department also initiated a new programme of group visits by journalists from European countries. A party of senior German editors and other publicists visited Ireland at the Department's invitation. During their stay they had an opportunity to see at first hand recent economic and social developments and to visit places of historical and cultural interest. The intention was to develop long-term interest rather than to achieve immediate publicity and the visit has already resulted in the reflection of favourable attitudes to Ireland in material appearing in German newspapers and on television. More recently my Department co-operated with the Department of Finance in bringing to Ireland a group of British financial editors which resulted in favourable publicity in the British press for our economic progress.
A group of journalists from Belgium visited Ireland as official guests prior to the visit of their Majesties the King and Queen of the Belgians and a special press office was established during the visit in co-operation with the Government Information Bureau and the Department of Posts and Telegraphs to provide special facilities for press and television coverage, both foreign and domestic. Groups of journalists from other European countries will be invited later in the year. Some 50 other foreign journalists from 15 countries who visited Ireland during the past year were briefed and otherwise assisted by my Department.
In this whole field close co-operation is maintained between the Department, the Government Information Bureau, other Government Departments and those semi-State bodies engaged in publicising Irish goods or services abroad. Co-operation in assisting journalists, film and television producers and other publicists ensures that they receive comprehensive information on Irish life in general as well as exports, tourist and industrial development.
Briefing material has also been made available in increasing quantity to journalists and to individual enquirers in Britain, North America and other countries, generally through our diplomatic missions and consular offices. The demand for these services continues to increase as knowledge about this country becomes more widespread throughout the world.
A sum of £14,000 will be provided in the Grant-in-Aid for Cultural Relations with other countries for the year 1968-69 which represents an increase of £3,000 over last year's estimate. I consider such a provision to be necessary to enable my Department to continue and extend the programme of cultural projects designed to promote abroad a better knowledge and appreciation of our culture and current activities in the arts.
In administering the grant-in-aid for Cultural Relations, I have the benefit of valuable advice from the Cultural Relations Committee. The members of the Committee, who are persons of recognised competance in their respective fields, give generously of their time and knowledge in the interest of furthering our cultural programmes abroad. I would like once more publicly to thank them and to express my sincere appreciation of their excellent service.
A recent event of particular importance in the cultural field which I wish to mention is the conclusion of a Cultural Agreement with France. This Agreement provides a framework within which increased co-operation and exchanges in the fields of education, literature, the sciences and the arts can take place between the two countries. Under the terms of the Agreement a joint Irish-French Committee will meet shortly in Dublin to examine how relations in these areas may best be developed.
My Department and its trade missions abroad have an important role to play in the development of new and existing markets and attracting foreign investors. This is particularly the case in areas where we have diplomatic missions and the IDA and Córas Tráchtála are not represented. By virtue of their experience and contacts, Missions are in a favourable position to advise exporters on market conditions and prospects for individual commodities, to arrange programmes and introductions for businessmen visiting foreign markets, and to suggest suitable agents to handle their products. Indeed, as I have frequently indicated to the Dáil and to our exporters, our embassies are under instructions to give high priority to the work of promoting trade and other foreign earnings. Exporters and potential exporters could, to their advantage, make fuller use of the facilities which our embassies are in a position to give them.
As Deputies are aware, exports in 1967, as compared with the previous year, rose by £39½ million or 16 per cent and imports increased by £18½ million or 5 per cent. This meant a reduction of £21 million in the import excess. With net receipt from tourism and other invisibles taken into account, it is estimated that there was a balance of payment surplus of £10 million. Given the difficult economic climate abroad, this is a very satisfactory achievement and testifies to the quality and competitiveness of Irish exports.
As in other years, about 70 per cent of our exports went to the British market—indeed our exports to that market in 1967 were in value terms some 22 per cent above the 1966 level. Although exports to the EEC were slightly less in 1967 than in the preceding year, the total of exports to countries other than Britain was also higher than in 1966. This is evidence of the success being achieved by our exporters in the diversification of our market outlets.
The diversification of market outlets is clearly a most desirable objective, not only to reduce our dependence on a single market, but also to provide new disposal possibilities for our growing output particularly in the industrial sector.
With the growth of trade liberalisation, the possibilities for the conclusion of bilateral trade agreements have, of course, narrowed. Nevertheless, our trade with individual countries is kept under continuing review. During 1967 we renewed our Trade Agreement with France under which a number of specific quotas are provided for Irish goods. The renewal of the Trade Agreement with Germany is under examination at present and we hope to commence negotiations shortly with the Federal German authorities.
As the Dáil is aware, the Government re-activated our applications for membership by this country of the EEC and EURATOM on 11th May, 1967, and at the same time applied for membership of the ECSC. In the ensuing months the Taoiseach, accompanied by the Minister for Finance and the Secretaries of the Department of Finance and External Affairs, visited the capitals of the Six member countries and received encouraging assurances of support for our application from all the Member Governments. The failure of the Council of Ministers of the Community at its meeting on the 19th December last to reach unanimous agreement on the opening of negotiations with the applicant countries was naturally a keen disappointment. However, various proposals have in the meantime been put forward designed to enable closer contact between the applicants and the Community pending their accession. These proposals are still under consideration by the Member Governments but it is not possible at this stage to say what the outcome will be. Our attitude as the Taoiseach has often explained is one of support for any arrangement which would hasten the day when Ireland can become a full member of the Common Market.
While the centrally important issue of our application for Community membership and the efforts to advance towards a satisfactory solution have engaged the attention of my Department and of our Mission to the Communities and to the Six Member Governments, the internal developments within the Community have also been followed with very close attention. Our aim in becoming a member of the Community is in no way diminished by recent events. There is no doubt that Ireland's potential can best be realised in the context of an enlarged European Community. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the process of adaptation and preparation which has been taking place in our economy should continue with all possible speed, so that when our accession to the Communities comes, we may be in a position to play a full part in the great movement which it represents.
The Government's contribution to the GATT for part of 1967 and for the calendar year 1968 amounts to £6,750. In addition, a once-for-all advance of £800 to the GATT Working Capital Fund has been assessed on Ireland. Both these amounts, totalling £7,550, are included in the Vote for International Co-operation.
Our permanent diplomatic representative in Geneva has responsibility for our day to day representation with the GATT Secretariat.
We participated, as a preliminary to our accession to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, in the Kennedy Round of tariff-cutting negotiations which terminated in the signing on 30th June, 1967, of the Geneva Protocol by the contracting parties of GATT. Following subsequent acceptance of the terms of our accession by a sufficient number of the contracting parties, the Dáil agreed to a motion approving our accession on 14th November. On 22nd November the Protocol of Ireland's Accession to the GATT was accordingly signed in Geneva by the Irish Permanent Representative to the European Office of the United Nations.
Since our accession, Ireland has been elected to membership of the GATT Agricultural Committee and of the Working Party on Dairy Products.
Ireland continued to play an active role in the activities of the OECD, this involving ministerial or official attendance, as appropriate, at the Organisation's various meetings during the year. Our Permanent Representative to the OECD is our Ambassador in Paris.
Among the matters considered by Ministers at the OECD Council Meeting on 30th November and 1st December, 1967, was the Report of the Special Group set up in 1965 to examine trade relations with developing countries. The Group's report set out a number of general considerations relating to temporary special tariff treatment by developed countries in favour of all developing countries. The Ministers agreed that the broad lines of the report should serve as a common basis for delegations of member Governments at the Second Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development which took place in New Delhi in February-March, 1968. I will revert to the matter of this conference in a moment.
In turning to the question of aid to the developing countries of the world, I should like to stress the importance of recognising the urgent needs of these countries and the gravity of the problems that they face. The peace of the world, I believe, is dependent on the volume and quality of the help given them to keep the peace and to develop their economies. During the year under review, we continued to assist them through our regular contributions to the various international organisations concerned with development aid. The Government also made special additional emergency contributions to the United Nations Children's Fund and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees for aid to refugees in the Middle East following the Arab-Israeli conflict in June, 1967. We also continued to make available training and educational facilities here for nationals of these countries and maintained our efforts to recruit Irish technical and professional personnel for service overseas.
In this connection one must make particular mention of the invaluable work which has been done over the years by the religious and lay personnel of our missionary orders. Their achievements with meagre resources have been magnificent, particularly in the educational and medical fields, and their unselfish labours have brought untold credit to Ireland as well as incalculable benefit to the countries concerned.
Many aspects of development aid were considered at the Second Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which took place in New Delhi, India, in February and March of this year. The Minister for Labour led the Irish delegation at the Conference.
The basic purpose of UNCTAD, which was established as an organ of the United Nations General Assembly in 1964, is to promote the economic and social growth of the developing countries and the great problems facing these countries were discussed at the New Delhi Conference. Among the many and diverse subjects on the Conference's agenda were commodity arrangements and prices, tariff preferences for the developing countries, the volume of development aid, terms of aid, the world food problem, economic integration among developing countries, shipping, freight rates, insurance, ports and tourism.
On the question of tariff preferences for the developing countries the Conference recorded unanimous agreement on the early establishment of a mutually acceptable system of generalised preferences in favour of developing countries. A special Committee on Preferences was established to enable all countries concerned to participate in the necessary consultations. This can, I think, be regarded as a significant step forward in the field of commercial policy as between the developed and the developing countries.
It must be said, however, that it proved difficult to reach substantial agreement on a number of issues and that the developing countries generally were disappointed at the results of the Conference. They had expected it to produce much more in the way of concrete progress. However, the problems facing the developing world are very formidable indeed and ready-made solutions for them all are not available. The search for these solutions may be expected to take time and to make considerable demands on the goodwill and patience of all concerned.
During the year Ireland was elected by the General Assembly of the United Nations to membership of the organisation's Economic and Social Council, ECOSOC. Our membership is for a three year period as from 1st January last.
This is our first time to serve on the 27-member Council, which is the organ that directs and co-ordinates the economic and social work of the United Nations and its related agencies. An Irish delegation is at present attending the 44th Session of the Council, which commenced in New York on 1st May.
Ireland plays a full part in the activities of the Council of Europe. This body continues to provide a valuable means of co-operation between its 18 Member States which include the members of the two major economic groups—EEC and EFTA—and the other six Western European countries including Ireland. Matters of European common concern in the economic, social, cultural, legal and other fields occupy a major position in the deliberations of the Consultative Assembly and the Committee of Ministers in their pursuit of the common aim of greater European unity.
The Work Programme of the Council of Europe which I referred to last year as a new and experimental mechanism has significantly enhanced the capacity and effectiveness of the Council of Europe in the promotion of closer European unity. As the Secretary-General of the Council stated in his address to the Consultative Assembly last January, the member Governments have clearly demonstrated a will to co-operate in the speedy execution of an important programme of activities.
Since I presented the last Estimate for my Department, Ireland has signed and ratified or otherwise become a party to five Council of Europe Conventions, namely:
(i) Agreement between the Member States of the Council of Europe on the Issue to Military and Civilian War-Disabled of an International Book of Vouchers for the Repair of Prosthetic and Orthopaedic Appliances;
(ii) General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe and the First, Second and Fourth Protocols thereof;
(iii) European Convention on the Adoption of Children;
(iv) Convention on the Unification of Certain Points of Substantive Law on Patents for Invention;
(v) Convention on the Liability of Hotel-keepers concerning the property of Guests.
In 1967 Ireland received six fellowships under the Council of Europe Scheme of Fellowships for the benefit of social welfare personnel.
Last year the European flag was presented by the Council of Europe to Castlebar. The town was among the seven winners of flags which are awarded annually for the promotion of the European idea. The contest for the award is open to all municipalities of the 18 member States of the Council of Europe. Castlebar's contribution to this promotion rested in her co-operation in cultural, sporting and educational matters with her counterparts in Europe. That they have been chosen from so many competing towns and cities is something for the people of Castlebar to be proud of as it was for the people of Kinsale to win a similar honour in 1966.
As the Deputies are aware, the United Nations have designated 1968 as International Year for Human Rights. The Government's programme to celebrate the Year has been announced. Perhaps the best contribution Governments can make towards the celebration of the Year is the signing and ratifying of as many Human Rights Conventions as possible. As already announced, my Department is in consultation with other Departments in regard to the legal and other steps necessary to enable Ireland to sign and ratify as many as possible of those Human Rights Conventions to which the State is not already a party. On 21st March, 1968, Ireland signed the International Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Government was represented by two officers of my Department at the recent United Nations International Conference for Human Rights at Teheran.
As the Dáil is aware, negotiations within the Eighteen Nation Disarmament Committee in Geneva resulted in the joint presentation for the first time on 18th January by the United States and Soviet Union Co-Chairmen of a complete draft treaty to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. This draft now represents a comprehensive treaty which was the outcome of prolonged negotiations, particularly on the inspection clause.
The draft treaty was subject to some revision and the final draft was presented to the ENDC—the Eighteen Nations Disarmament Committee in Geneva—on 11th March by the United States and the Soviet Union. In addition the three nuclear powers participating in the Disarmament Committee—Britain, the United States and the USSR—have agreed to co-sponsor a resolution in the Security Council of the United Nations guaranteeing the security, in the event of a nuclear attack, of the non-nuclear States which adhere to the treaty. We welcome the fact that the final draft strengthens the obligations of nuclear Powers to provide facilities for the peaceful uses of atomic energy at a low cost for countries that have renounced nuclear weapons. As I have stressed in the General Assembly, the treaty is not an end in itself and it must be followed by the nuclear powers helping non-nuclear States to take full advantage of nuclear energy for economic development, and by their being firmly committed to the protection of non-nuclear States in the event of attack by a nuclear Power.
The draft treaty is at present being discussed at the resumed session of the General Assembly and it is to be hoped that the great powers in the Security Council will succeed in convincing those of the non-nuclear powers, who still have doubts, of their sincerity in this regard.
Since the Irish delegation first raised this question formally at the United Nations ten years ago, there has been an ever-growing awareness of the threat which the spread of nuclear weapons would hold for the survival of the human race. A report produced last October by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in response to the General Assembly's request for a study on the effects of the possible use of nuclear weapons confirms that non-nuclear States by attempting to enter the nuclear arms race would increase their insecurity and bring about the impoverishment of their peoples.
The draft is a much to be welcomed manifestation of the determination of the leading nuclear Powers to sink their differences on an issue of vital importance to mankind as a whole. Let us hope that it will soon be followed by other essential agreements for peace and development. As I stated at the General Assembly on 6th May, the draft treaty is in my opinion as satisfactory an instrument as it was possible to negotiate in the harsh political climate of the last ten years: it is my sincere hope that it will be endorsed and ratified as speedily as possible by the greatest possible number of States.
The Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America which was opened for signature in early 1967 is designed to create a nuclear-free zone for an area of 20 million square kilometres inhabited by 250 million people. At the first part of the 22nd session of the General Assembly I hailed this welcome development as a step which, when the treaty enters into effect, will help to promote effective collective measures to maintain peace and security in a wide area. The establishment of nuclear-free zones in other parts of the globe following the worthy precedent set by this Treaty would have an important influence on restricting the wasteful and dangerous arms race throughout the world.
The vital and urgent issue of restoring to the United Nations its capacity to finance reliably and bring to a successful conclusion any peace-keeping activity it may be called upon to undertake was again accorded extensive consideration last autumn during the first part of the 22nd session of the General Assembly. Although the necessity for a peace-keeping operation can arise at any moment in these troubled times, the organisation is severely handicapped by its inability to raise the necessary funds other than by the highly uncertain method of voluntary contributions, which, at best, tend to come from a relatively small number of Member States, leaving to the Secretary-General the invidious task of soliciting funds from reluctant Member States.
Since 1965, the Irish delegation has striven persistently to remedy this dangerous situation by proposing a resolution aimed at maintaining the right of the General Assembly under Article 17 to make mandatory assessments for peace-keeping. Mandatory assessments are, of course, the only effective way of restoring to the United Nations the capacity to finance peace-keeping operations reliably. The basic cause of the present paralysis of the peace-keeping machinery of the United Nations derives from the claim by two permanent Members of the Security Council that any action to keep the peace—even action of a non-enforcement nature—is the exclusive prerogative of the Council and that the Assembly has no power to initiate peace-keeping operations or to levy mandatory contributions to finance them, even when they are authorised by the Security Council. It is in the vital interest of world peace that when the Security Council is prevented by a veto from discharging its primary responsibility to maintain peace the General Assembly should not only be able to recommend a peace-keeping operation but to ensure that it is adequately and reliably financed.
On the last occasion on which this Department's Estimate was discussed I mentioned that the General Assembly at its 21st session in 1966 had taken no decision on a resolution co-sponsored by Ireland and 11 other Members commending a system of mandatory assessments which had been passed by the Special Political Committee. I regret to report that the fifth Special Session of the General Assembly held in April and May 1967 failed to come to grips with the problem of peace-keeping, and deferred any real action on the matter by adopting the recommendation of the Special Committee on Peace-keeping Operations—the Committee of 33, as it is called—that it be authorised to continue its work and to report to the 22nd session of the General Assembly which commenced in September 1967. The Committee of 33 failed to achieve any results and was obliged to report to the 22nd session that it had been unable to undertake the task entrusted to it by the Assembly owing to the preoccupation of the entire membership of the Organisation with certain international developments, and that it felt it should continue to carry out its mandate.
At the 22nd session Ireland, together with Ceylon, Costa Rica, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Philippines, Togo, and Upper Volta again introduced a draft resolution containing proposals similar in principle to those which had been before the General Assembly since 1965. However, a second draft resolution was introduced which proposed to transmit the records of the Special Political Committee's work to the Committee of 33 and which requested the Committee of 33 to report on the progress it had made in carrying out its work by 1st July 1968. Speaking in the Special Political Committee, I said that in view of the expectations which had been aroused that the Committee of 33 would produce a fruitful report before July 1st, 1968, and in view of the widespread support which had been expressed for the alternative proposal, the co-sponsors of our draft resolution had concluded that we should not press it to a vote at that time. I urged the Committee of 33 to include in its report a proposal for the adoption of the system of mandatory assessments contained in our resolution, or some other acceptable system of mandatory assessments which would ensure that future peace-keeping operations would be adequately and reliably financed.
I remain convinced that the only reliable method of financing future peace-keeping operations is by way of mandatory assessments. The International Court has declared that the General Assembly has the right to do so under Article 17 of the Charter. But unless the Assembly takes a firm stand on this issue, Article 17 will become a nullity and in time the United Nations will be driven into bankruptcy—moral as well as financial. The worry which an overburdened Secretary-General U. Thant has had in raising a mere 18 million dollars every six months for peace-keeping in Cyprus is a warning of what can happen if mandatory assessments for peace-keeping are not restored. It would be over-optimistic to expect that further United Nations peace-keeping operations will not be required in this much troubled world.
As the Minister for Defence dealt with the Cyprus operation in his Estimate on 13th instant, it is unnecessary for me to go into the matter again; but I wish to pay tribute once more to all our Irish soldiers who have served—and are serving—with the United Nations in the cause of peace in Cyprus and the Middle East. They have won the high esteem of the peoples in the countries in which they are serving and have brought honour and renown to their country.
I wish to deal briefly with the financial aspects of our membership of the United Nations.
The gross Estimated Regular Budget as approved by the General Assembly for the current year is 140,430,950 dollars as against gross budgets of 133,084,000 dollars for 1967 and 121,080,530 dollars for 1966. These increases reflect not only the continuing rise in the costs of maintaining a constant level of operations by the United Nations Secretariat, but also the inevitable expansion of the Secretariat as a result of several important developments in recent years.
Ireland's assessed contribution to the United Nations Regular Budget for 1968 amounts to 196,497 dollars as compared with an assessment of 167,987 dollars for 1967 and 163,136 dollars for 1966. The increases in our contributions which are shown by these figures are the result first of the revision of the scale of assessments by the Committee on Contributions as passed by the General Assembly in its resolution 2291 (XXII) of 8th December, 1967. This revision which is objectively calculated in accordance with the statistics for Ireland's comparative economic growth in the base period 1963-5 has increased our assessment from 0.16 per cent to 0.17 per cent for the three year period up to and including 1970 when the matter will be again reviewed. Secondly, the increases result from the growth of the gross budget of the United Nations over the period in question.
In regard to the general financial position of the United Nations in the last year the Secretary-General has informed the General Assembly that there is little cause for optimism. The ad hoc Committee of Experts to examine the Finances of the United Nations and Specialised Agencies, which was established by the General Assembly in December, 1965, did nothing to further a solution of the basic problems of the organisation's long and short-term indebtedness and the Special Committee on Peace Keeping has yielded disappointing results.
The Secretary-General has stated that while the organisation's overall cash position has been such as to enable it to meet its immediate obligations, the current situation although not critical is certainly precarious. He has pointed to the need for a political solution to certain of the long-term aspects of financing the organisation and has urged that fresh and determined efforts must be made to liquidate former peace keeping indebtedness, to devise ways and means whereby future operations involving relatively large expenditures are financed on a firmer and more reliable basis than in the past, to reach accommodation that will arrest the regular budgetary short-fall and therefore safeguard the integrity of the organisation as an expression of collective responsibility.
Ireland continues to support the United Nations voluntary humanitarian funds and we have found it possible to provide for modest increases in our contributions to some of these funds. The Estimate for International Co-operation this year contains provision for a contribution of £1,500 towards the United Nations programme for the education and training abroad of South Africans affected by the policies of apartheid.
