Question:
28 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on progress made to date on the initiative by his predecessor and other Foreign Ministers on nuclear disarmament. [12844/00]
Written Answers. - Nuclear Disarmament Initiative.
Trevor Sargent
Question:51 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the Government's approach to the current review conference on the non-proliferation treaty. [13058/00]
Jan O'Sullivan
Question:52 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the proposals the Government has made or plans to make at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13082/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 28, 51 and 52 together.
In line with Ireland's unique role in proposing the non-proliferation treaty and its promotion over the 30 years of its existence, the Government continues to pursue the goal of early elimination of nuclear weapons, wherever we are represented, including at the NPT review conference which is currently taking place in New York.
This conference opened on Easter Monday. Reflecting Ireland's traditional role in relation to the non-proliferation treaty, I was amongst the first speakers on that day. In my address I set out my view of the current serious situation, including the challenges which threaten the future of the treaty itself. I also explained in detail the thinking which underpinned the new agenda coalition, of which Ireland is a leading member, and its proposal "Towards a Nuclear Weapons Free World".
The treaty was extended indefinitely in 1995 and a strengthened review mechanism was set in place at the same time in anticipation of an acceleration of the process of nuclear disarmament and the consequent need for greater interaction between the nuclear weapon and the non-nuclear weapon states parties. In spite of some significant steps by some nuclear weapon states, the nuclear arms reduction process has faltered in the intervening five years. Regrettably, there is little evidence of a willingness on the part of the nuclear weapon states to consider the elimination of their nuclear arsenals in the foreseeable future. There is now a risk that the indefinite possession of nuclear weapons will become a norm in the post Cold War era. Recent developments in India and Pakistan – neither of whom are signatories to the treaty – are further signs of such a development.
I wish to pay tribute to my predecessor, Deputy Andrews, for his initiative on nuclear disarmament. The new agenda initiative, as it is known, charts the route to the achievement of nuclear disarmament through concrete steps and processes. It has already received widespread support in the General Assembly of the United Nations. At the conference currently under way in New York, the Irish delegation, together with the more than 60 co-sponsors of the new agenda initiative, will attempt to secure a commitment from the nuclear weapon states that will set the elimination of nuclear weapons not within a perspective of unlimited duration, but within a timeframe determined by the limitations of these steps and processes.
The conference will continue until 19 April. While I would hope that there will be an agreed and successful outcome along the lines which I have indicated, I am not in a position to say today that this will in fact be the case.