Vol. 468 No. 4
46 Mr. D. Wallace asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs his assessment of the performance of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Boutros Boutros Ghali, in the context of ongoing disputes, particularly in the African continent; and whether he supports the Secretary General's reappointment for a second term in office. [15341/96]
It is the practice that members of the Government do not give an assessment of the performance of office holders in international organisations such as the Secretary-General of the United Nations. I do not intend to depart from this practice.
I would draw attention, however, to the fact that under the UN Charter the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security is conferred upon the Security Council of the UN. It is the function of the Secretary-General to ensure that decisions of the Security Council in this regard are implemented in accordance with the mandate given by the Security Council. For this, the Secretary-General requires resources adequate to the task as well as the full support of both the Security Council and the wider membership of the UN.
It is also worth nothing that the current Secretary-General, Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, came to office in 1991 at a time when the UN system was undergoing a process of major reassessment of its role in facing new challenges to international peace and security in the post-Cold War era and in particular the significant rise of intra-state conflicts. The UN system continues to seek to redefine an effective strategy of response to such challenges and we will lend our support to this endeavour.
As regards the forthcoming election later this year to the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ireland will determine its position following the outcome of the process of recommendation of candidate by the Security Council to the General Assembly.
