Vol. 453 No. 2
15 Kathleen Lynch asked the Minister for Defence the items for discussion at the meeting of Western European Union Foreign and Defence Ministers taking place in Lisbon on Monday, 15 May 1995, as they impact on his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9044/95]
The agenda for the meeting referred to was mainly concerned with the Western European Union's preparations for its input to the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference of the European Union and the future role the Western European Union might expect to play.
In this connection the principal issues were a draft declaration on operational development, which in the main is a matter for full members of the Western European Union, and a common reflection of the new European security conditions.
The latter, which is an interim document, reflects points of view on a range of issues in the European security context and covers matters in which Ireland would have an interest, for example, emphasis on a broad concept of security, need to address risks such as the proliferation of weapons, drug problems, etc. This common reflection will be further developed. As Ireland has observer status only at the Western European Union, the deliberations of the meeting will have no direct impact on the Department of Defence.
I thank the Minister for his reply. My question relates to items for discussion at the meeting and I am glad he saw fit to answer it now that the meeting is over. While accepting that Ireland has purely observer status at the Western European Union, is the Minister concerned that the Western European Union appears to be moving in the direction of interfering in what are normally considered domestic problems, such as crime, drug abuse, etc.? Is there any method by which we can raise this matter and voice our concerns without infringing our observer status given that we do not want to be involved in discussions? Will positive proposals be put forward in that regard at the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference of the European Union? Will we be able to say then with what we agree or how far advanced are we along that road? Is the Minister concerned that the Western European Union appears to be interfering in our national security while prior to this it concentrated on its concerns, which were not Ireland's?
Let us not charge the Minister with responsibilities which may not be his.
The Deputy raised issues which, as the Ceann Comhairle pointed out, do not fall within my remit. I will give the Deputy background information to the meeting. We attended it purely as observers. The observer nations were Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Austria. Apart from the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs who attended the meeting, all the countries were asked to send Defence Ministers to the meeting and the observer countries I named did so. I asked my Minister of State to attend it to avoid laying undue emphasis on the defence side because I know it is a delicate matter. We are pleased that it was possible to raise transnational subjects at it, such as the drugs problem. That gives us a valid reason for our observations at it and there are other issues with which we would not be involved to the same extent. In addition to the principal members of the Western European Union of which the Deputy is aware and the observers I named there is a group of associate partners which comprise most East European countries, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Their status is not dissimilar from ours. The Western European Union is a useful forum and it is no longer merely an exclusive military club. It would be unwise not to take up our position as observers and attend its meeting. As this issue and the wider ones with which I am not directly involved will clearly arise during our Presidency, we must be well aware of what is happening and, therefore, we must be at the table as observers.
It is now time to proceed to deal with questions addressed to the Minister in his capacity as Minister for the Marine.
