Written Answers. - Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Austin Deasy
Question:
49
Mr. Deasy
asked the
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs
if Ireland has protested to North Vietnam and China in view of their continuing development and testing of nuclear weapons; if not, if he will take an initiative in lodging such protests; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9287/95]
Dermot Ahern
Question:
51
Mr. D. Ahern
asked the
asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, in view of the commitment on his Government's Programme for Renewal to seek a five-yearly review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the reason it was decided by the Government not to insist on this during the recent talks on this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [
Ray Burke
Question:
53
Mr. R. Burke
asked the
asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, in view of a nuclear explosion set off by China within days of 178 nations agreeing to extend indefinitely the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the reasons Ireland did not seek the setting of five-year goals at the recent NPT conference. [
Ivor Callely
Question:
55
Mr. Callely
asked the
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs
the advancement, if any, that has been made by the EU since the joint declaration on nuclear non-proliferation at its meeting in Dublin, 1990; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9262/95]
Tony Killeen
Question:
68
Mr. Killeen
asked the
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs
his views and response to China's 42 nuclear test days after the reconfirmation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9350/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 49, 51, 53, 55 and 68 together.
The Government is gravely concerned at the report that the People's Republic of China carried out a nuclear test explosion on 15 May. This concern was expressed in the press statement which I issued on the following day. On instructions, the Irish representative at the United Nations Disarmament Commission, which is currently in session in New York, made a similar statement.
The Chinese authorities are aware of the Irish Government's concerns about Chinese nuclear tests. I raised this matter with the Chinese Government during my official visit to China last Autumn. In my statement of 18 April to the NPT Review and Extension Conference, I called on China to join the other nuclear weapon States in implementing a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing.
It is particularly discouraging that China should have conducted a nuclear test at this time. As recently as 11 May, the NPT Review and Extension Conference agreed that, pending the entry into force of a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the utmost restraint should be exercised in the area of nuclear testing. Ireland has pointed out that China's action is not in keeping with the spirit of this agreement or with the principles and objectives for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament which accompanied the decision to extend the NPT indefinitely.
I want to emphasise once again, as I did at the NPT Conference and in my statement on the reported Chinese test, the great importance of securing a successful conclusion of the negotiations for a comprehensive test ban, no later than 1996. I also reiterate my hope that, in the meantime, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States will maintain their current unilateral ban on nuclear testing and I call on China to join them.
The approach of the Government to the NPT was set out in a Resolution adopted by Dáil Éireann on 22 March and in my statement at the beginning of the NPT Conference on 18 April.
I am happy to report that the results of the NPT Review and Extension Conference correspond closely with Ireland's objectives. On 11 May, the states party to the NPT agreed that the Treaty shall continue in force indefinitely; that the process for review of implementation of the Treaty shall be strengthened; and a set of principles and objectives for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. The decision to extend indefinitely the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is in full accord with a major objective of the Irish Government for the conference, and it secures the future of the international non-proliferation regime.
The Irish delegation was active, during the conference, in urging the adoption of enhanced review procedures. The conference confirmed that review conferences should continue to be held every five years and decided that the next should take place in the year 2000. In addition, meetings to prepare the review conferences will be held in three out of four of the intervening years of the cycle. It was also decided that review conferences should both evaluate the results of the review period and look forward, identifying the areas in which, and the means through which, further progress might be sought.
The set of principles for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament adopted by the conference corresponds well with the objectives of Irish policy. It states that the undertakings with regard to nuclear disarmament set out in the Treaty should be fulfilled with determination, and identifies three specific measures as constituting a programme of action for the full realization and effective implementation of Article VI of the Treaty.
These measures are completion, no later than 1996, of a universal, and internationally and effectively verifiable, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; immediate commencement, and early conclusion, of negotiations for a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons and other explosive devices and the determined pursuit by the nuclear weapon states of systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally, with the ultimate goal of eliminating those weapons.
It is most significant that all parties to the NPT reaffirmed their commitment, for all time, to prevent nuclear proliferation and to work on a programme of action for nuclear disarmament with the ultimate goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. With the Treaty extended indefinitely, there is a corresponding continuing obligation on all states, particularly the nuclear weapon states, to pursue nuclear disarmament and they will have to answer for this at each future five year review. It is my sincere hope and expectation that the set of principles and objectives adopted by the conference will consolidate progress to date and promote accelerated progress in nuclear disarmament
Of the 178 states party to the Treaty, 175 participated in the Review and Extension Conference. Only 12 countries now remain outside the international nuclear non-proliferation norm, the cornerstone of which is the NPT and this number is shrinking. This brings us close to achieving universal adherence to the Treaty, which Ireland has always advocated.
The agreements reached in New York which I have just outlined correspond with the elements of the joint action agreed by the European Union and constitute a most significant and comprehensive advance on the Dublin Declaration of 1990.
