I propose to take Questions Nos. 1, 25, 29 and 35 together.
The Government is totally opposed to nuclear testing and is deeply concerned by the decision of the French Government to resume nuclear testing later this year. These concerns have been made known to the French authorities bilaterally and in the appropriate international fora.
The Tánaiste raised the issue with the French Foreign Minister yesterday evening and expressed the Government's regret at the French decision to resume testing this year. He asked that the French Government reconsider its decision, in the interests of the environment, of nuclear disarmament and of a comprehensive test ban treaty.
The objectives of the Government now are: first, to persuade the French Government to rescind its decision to proceed with the tests. The Tánaiste has called publicly on France to reconsider its decision and the Government believes that, in view of the widespread international concern, France should review its position and maintain its moratorium on nuclear tests; second, we want to ensure that Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States maintain their current unilateral bans on testing. The French decision may encourage voices in these countries that favour a resumption of testing. These calls should be firmly resisted by the Russian, British and American Governments; and third, we want to see early progress on a comprehensive test ban treaty. The recent Chinese test, and the French decision, show the limitations of a purely unilateral approach and the imperative need for a binding international agreement that will ban all tests, in all atmospheres, for all time.
In a statement he made on 14 June, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs said that France's decision would be viewed as a setback to the efforts to bring about an early and complete ban on nuclear testing. Referring to the recent Non-Proliferation Treaty Review and Extension Conference in New York at which the nuclear powers undertook to conclude a comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) no later than 1996, the Tánaiste pointed out that the conference had called on the nuclear weapon states, pending the entry into force of a CTBT, to exercise utmost restraint. The Tánaiste emphasised that, in the light of the outcome of the conference, it was particularly disappointing that two nuclear powers, France and China, had decided to continue testing.
On the same day as the Tánaiste's statement, the French Ambassador was received in the Taoiseach's Department by officials who, on the instructions of the Taoiseach, conveyed the Taoiseach's strong concern about this matter to the French authorities.
On 15 June the Irish Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, on instruction, outlined the Government's views to a plenary session of the UN Conference on Disarmament.
Prior to the French announcement, the Tánaiste had called publicly and repeatedly on the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia and France to maintain their unilateral moratoria on nuclear testing. In this connection, he emphasised the great importance of securing a successful conclusion of the negotiations for a comprehensive test ban. Therefore, the French authorities can be in no doubt about the sense of disappointment felt by the Irish Government and people over their decision to resume testing.
The Government view with real concern the prospect that the French decision in the period ahead, may complicate the efforts of EU states to exert effectively their combined influence in the non-proliferation and disarmament fields. These are areas which seemed to hold out the promise of further significant advances in the future. An action which might inhibit such progress is deeply regrettable.