Vol. 432 No. 2
3 Mr. M. McDowell asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs whether he has considered the recent proposal by Deputy Michael McDowell that an Irish Institute of International Affairs should be established, centred on a third level institution of learning, in order to develop a greater awareness of, and acquaintance with, international affairs; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I have believed for a long time that there is a need to develop in Ireland a greater awareness of issues arising in international affairs and of Ireland's position on them. A well informed public opinion is as necessary in this as in any other aspect of public life. It is one of the reasons I pressed for the establishment of a Foreign Affairs Committee.
Several bodies are already doing good work in this area, in particular the Institute for European Affairs, the International Affairs Committee of the Royal Irish Academy, and the Irish Council of the European Movement. All have links with the universities which have developed courses and programmes in international or European affairs.
These initiatives are capable of fulfilling many of the functions the Deputy has in mind — research, debate, analysis, education — particularly on European affairs. Nevertheless, I agree with the Deputy that there is a need to broaden the debate beyond Europe to international affairs generally and in the light of this I am prepared to examine further his proposal.
I also wish to encourage a wider understanding of, and debate about, foreign affairs issues among the population generally, and not in an elite way only. I intend to discuss with the Minister for Education the possibility of examining, in the context of the forthcoming White Paper, how a broader awareness of foreign affairs issues might be inculcated at second level.
The somewhat egocentric phraseology of the question is not its original wording, in case anyone was wondering.
That would never worry me in the Deputy's case.
Will the Tánaiste agree it is important, in relation to areas which fall outside the remit for instance of the Institute of European Affairs and of the Irish Council of the European Movement, that Ireland should have a group of people who have an opportunity to confer in relation to Pacific, African, American and Central American affairs and so on and in that context a wider institution is desirable? Will the Minister also agree that an initiative sponsored by his Department with one of the universities here would be a useful way of establishing such a body, bearing in mind the success of the Institute of European Affairs and the Centre for European Law Studies in Trinity which, before she was elected, the President played such a dynamic role in creating when she was attached to that university?
I do not take offence at the way the question was put down. I became aware of the Deputy's statement when the question was put down and decided to deal with it appropriately. I would like more debate on a whole range of foreign affairs. Obviously European affairs have taken the lead perhaps because of the proximity of Europe and the debate in the European Community. It is extremely important that all these issues are thrashed out and that a body of qualitative research is available to the public. However, I would be worried if this became elitist because it is very important that the average citizen should understand the implications of foreign policy, our involvement in it and would have an input into its development.
I presume that Deputy Lenihan, who chairs the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, agrees that it would be very useful to have some indigenous backup for our committee, a specialisation at academic level. I fully accept what the Minister said about not making it elitist but the research necessary for an informed debate must be located in some institution.
I take that point, we can explore the possibilities. I very much support this proposal.
