Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 26 May 1993

Vol. 431 No. 4

Written Answers. - Testing of Nuclear Weapons.

Trevor Sargent

Question:

44 Mr. Sargent asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has written to the US President urging him not to resume the testing of nuclear weapons when the current US moratorium on such testing expires at the end of May 1993.

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Spring)

The Government believes that nuclear tests are unnecessary for military purposes, environmentally unacceptable, and harmful to the prevention of the spread of nuclear weapons, as set out in the preamble to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

The United States is aware of Ireland's views on the question of nuclear testing. Last year, the Government welcomed the steps taken by the United States towards limiting nuclear testing. These steps, following similar ones by the Russian Federation and France, appeared to represent significant progress towards the cessation of nuclear testing. At the same time, Ireland made clear, at the United Nations, that we regarded further progress in this area as necessary if the process of nuclear disarmament is to be made irreversible. We also made clear our belief that the issue of a comprehensive test ban treaty should continue to be actively addressed.

A resumption of nuclear testing carries risks for the international non-proliferation regime as a whole, at a time when the North Korean authorities are being urged to reconsider their decision to withdraw from the NPT, and also at a time when negotiations leading to the extension of the NPT, which is due for renewal in 1995, have commenced. I hope that the nuclear powers will consider very carefully all these aspects before any decisions on ending their current moratoria are taken.