Seán Barrett
Question:21 Mr. Barrett asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the proposals, if any, he made at the United Nations General Assembly in September 1993 for the reform of the United Nations.
Written Answers. - Reform of UN Structures.
Alan Shatter
Question:56 Mr. Shatter asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the proposals, if any, he made at the United Nations General Assembly in September 1993 for the reform of the United Nations.
Frank Crowley
Question:58 Mr. Crowley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the proposals, if any, he made at the United Nations General Assembly in September 1993 for the reform of the United Nations.
Michael Lowry
Question:59 Mr. Lowry asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the proposals, if any, he made at the United Nations General Assembly in September 1993 for the reform of the United Nations.
Frances Fitzgerald
Question:75 Ms F. Fitzgerald asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will initiate a review of the 1960s structures and organisations of the United Nations to make it more flexible and responsive.
Nora Owen
Question:98 Mrs. Owen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if Ireland has prepared any proposals on the restructuring of the United Nations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Mary Flaherty
Question:99 Miss Flaherty asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will initiate a review of the 1960s structures and organisation of the UN to make it more flexible and responsive.
Nora Owen
Question:106 Mrs. Owen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the proposals, if any, he made at the UN General Assembly in September 1993 for the reform of the United Nations.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 21, 56, 58, 59, 75, 98, 99 and 106 together.
The question of the reform of UN structures is under active discussion in a number of UN fora, and Ireland is making a constructive contribution to the debate. It is now universally accepted that the new climate in international relations and the many extra demands being placed on the UN require a critical examination of the organisation's existing structures.
This was a central theme in my address last week to the UN General Assembly which dealt in particular with the reform process as it affects the Security Council, the General Assembly, UN Peacekeeping, Human Rights and UN finances.
In my statement, I made it clear that Ireland supports the case for an increase in the membership of the Security Council in order to enhance the Council's political authority and its capacity to act decisively and with confidence. I expressed the hope that decisions on this can be taken before the fiftieth anniversary of the UN in two year's time. In separate submissions to the Secretary General and to the Committee on the UN Charter, the Government has set out Ireland's approach in greater detail emphasising the need to enhance the Security Council's representativity, legitimacy and effectiveness. Copies of my address and of Ireland's submissions have been placed in the Library.
It would be wrong, however, to assume that equipping the Security Council to meet the challenges of the 1990s, rather than those of the Cold War period, is simply a matter of increasing its membership. In my address to the General Assembly I also called for greater transparency in the Council's decision making and for a more inter-active relationship between it and the General Assembly. This is vital in a situation where countries such as our own are being increasingly called upon to supply peacekeeping personnel and finance as a result of Security Council's decisions. I suggested too that we must look for ways to make the General Assembly itself more effective. Work in this area is on going and there has already been a rationalisation of its Committee structure.
Another area that requires close attention is the UN's capacity to make and keep the peace. Proposals to strengthen the capacity of the UN in the fields of preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peacekeeping were set out in last year's report of the Secretary-General entitled anAgenda for Peace. Ireland has welcomed this report and we have been actively involved in the follow-up work. Our Permanent Representative to the UN in New York was Vice-Chairman of the working group established by the General Assembly to review the report.
In relation to the specific area of peacekeeping. I underlined in my statement the need to maintain peacekeeping and peace-enforcement operations within an overall political framework; the need for the Security Council to pay special attention to the issues of command and control; and the need to improve military planning at UN headquarters.
On financing I called on all members of the UN in arrears, especially those on the Security Council, to comply with their financial obligations. It is not acceptable that the UN should be asked to undertake new responsibilities while denying it the necessary resources.
In the area of human rights, Ireland has proposed the early establishment of the post of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; a doubling of the financial resources allocated by the UN to human rights activities; a strengthening of the UN's human rights machinery; and the establishment of an international criminal tribunal to prosecute persons responsible for violations of humanitarian law wherever they occur.
It will be clear from the foregoing that Ireland is fully engaged across the range of issues relating to UN reform. The Irish delegation at the current session of the General Assembly will pursue actively all the proposals I outlined in my statement to the Assembly last week.