asked the Minister for External Affairs if it is the intention of the Government to press through the United Nations for implementation of the clauses of the Geneva Convention or to take any other independent initiative to help restore peace and independence to the people of Vietnam.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Vietnam Conflict.
10.
As the Deputy is, I am sure, aware I have on many occasions made known the Government's views on the war in Vietnam. In particular, I have urged on numerous occasions in the United Nations, in the Dáil and through diplomatic channels that the Vietnamese and the Great Powers involved should agree that a ceasefire on land, sea, and in the air should be arranged to allow negotiations to begin. I have, further, stressed that an announcement should be made that any agreement arrived at as a result of those negotiations should be guaranteed by France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States and, if possible, by the Peoples' Republic of China, and that it should be backed by the United Nations Organisation.
Since 1960 I have advocated the establishment of an area of peace and limited armaments agreement between the countries of south-east Asia. I suggested that the widest possible group of States in the area should agree to settle their differences peacefully, to limit their armaments to police level, to declare their neutrality and to exclude all military bases from their territories on the condition that they would be guaranteed against aggression by the United Nations including the Great Powers. I am firmly of the opinion that for the establishment of an effective and lasting peace in south-east Asia, Vietnam should form part of such an area.
In my public statement on the 1st November I said that the cessation of bombing and the indication of an understanding that it was the first step in a general ceasefire was greatly to be welcomed. I sincerely hope that a new spirit of compromise will enter into the negotiations in Paris so that a basis will be found for the establishment of a stable peace in the interests of the sorely afflicted people of Vietnam and in the wider interests of world peace and stability.
Up to the present it has not been possible for the members of the United Nations General Assembly to table a Motion regarding the situation in Vietnam as the question is inscribed on the agenda of the Security Council: owing to the objections of the Soviet Union a substantive debate has not taken place. As the Security Council is seized of this item the General Assembly is prohibited by Article 12 of the Charter from making any recommendation with regard to the situation unless the Security Council so requests.
May I ask the Minister when he last raised this matter at the United Nations?
(Cavan): Not since the referendum.
Probably last year.
The Minister is not sure? Can he tell me the date on which he raised it?
The Deputy did not ask that. If he puts down a Question I will let him know. I have not got that date. Last year I think. About October of last year.
Thank you.