Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 16 Jun 1998

Vol. 492 No. 4

Written Answers. - International Agreements.

Frances Fitzgerald

Question:

118 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the international agreements under the auspices of her Department which, as of 1 June 1998, have not been signed by the State and which it is proposed that the State should sign or become a party to; the international organisation, if any, responsible for the agreement in each case; the date and place each agreement was adopted or opened for signature; and when it is proposed to sign each agreement or become a party to it. [13963/98]

Minister for Public Enterprise (Mrs. O'Rourke)

The information requested by the Deputy is contained in the following schedule.

Schedule

Department of Public Enterprise

International Agreements

No.	Agreement	International Organisation Responsible	Place and Date of Adoption	Ireland's Position
1.	European Agreement on the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road	United Nations Economic Commission for Europe	Geneva, 30 September 1957	It is intended that Ireland will accede to the Agreement in 1998.
2.	Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy	OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)	Paris, 29 July 1960	To date this Agreement has not been considered appropriate for signature, having regard to some aspects of the content. However, this matter falls to be reconsidered, following consultation with the Attorney General, in the light of ongoing discussions on revision to the Convention.
3.	Brussels Supplementary Convention(Supplementary to Paris Convention, see 2 above)	OECD (NEA]	Brussels, 21 May 1963	To date this Agreement has not been considered appropriate for signature, having regard to some aspects of the content. However, this matter falls to be reconsidered, following consultation with the Attorney General, in the light of ongoing discussions on revision to the Convention.
4.	Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage	International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)	Vienna, 21 May 1963	To date this Agreement has not been considered appropriate for signature, having regard to some aspects of the content. However, this matter falls to be reconsidered, following consultation with the Attorney General, in the light of ongoing discussions on revision to the Convention.
5.	Joint Protocol relating to the application of the Vienna Convention and the Paris Convention	Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)	Vienna, 21 September 1988	To date this Agreement has not been considered appropriate for signature, having regard to some aspects of the content. However, this matter falls to be reconsidered, following consultation with the Attorney General, in the light of ongoing discussions on revision to the Paris Convention.
6.	1994 Congress of the Universal Postal Union (certain Acts thereof)	Universal Postal Union	Seoul, South Korea 14 September, 1994	The Acts have been signed and Ratification is expected as soon as possible.
7.	Amendments to the Eutelsat Convention (will remove the time limit provision in the existing Convention in regard to ratification of proposed amendments).	Eutelsat	Different venues in 1996	Target date for signing is late 1998
8.	Convention for the Establishment of the European Telecommunications Office	European Committee for Telecommunications Regulatory Affairs	Copenhagen, 1 September 1996	Target date for signing is late 1998
9.	Protocol to amend the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage.	International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)	Vienna, 12 September 1997	The question of signature is under review in consultation with the Attorney General.
10.	Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage	International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)	Vienna, 12 September 1997	The question of signature is under review in consultation with the Attorney General.
11.	Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management	International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)	29 September 1997	It is proposed to ratify the Convention by end 1998.