Vol. 533 No. 2
8 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the total amount of funds held in the New York Iraq oil for food account on foot of resolution 986; the portion of this which is allocatable for relief for Iraq. [8389/01]
The United Nations Iraq account – ESB – consists of two accounts, the original US dollar account and a new euro sub-account which was established in November 2000 at the request of the Iraqi Government.
As of 14 March 2001, the total balance in the United Nations Iraq dollar account stood at approximately US$11.2 billion. Approximately US$7.8 billion of that amount has already been allocated for humanitarian contracts, US$459 million relates to letters of credit not yet approved or held pending by the Iraq authorities, US$34 million has been allocated to cover transportation cost and US$27 million is to be distributed to other funds in accordance with Security Council Resolution 986. This leaves a sum of US$2.9 billion still available in the account for allocation for humanitarian assistance.
For the euro account the equivalent sums are as follows: a total balance as of 14 March 2001 of 1.7 billion, of which 5.6 million is to be distributed to other funds in accordance with Security Council Resolution 986, leaving a balance of 1.59 billion available for applications for humanitarian assistance.
Ireland is a member of the Security Council and is on the Angolan sanctions committee but we have contact with the Iraq sanctions committee. Is the Minister satisfied that this amount of money is held undistributed while there are at least 3,000 children per month, according to the lowest figures of 16 agencies, dying in Iraq? Is it true that, through the committee 661 procedure, there were up to 302 contracts in relation to health, 50 in education and 123 in higher education unfulfilled at the time these funds were being held? Most importantly, what initiative is Ireland taking to break the US-British block on so many of these contracts when there is such great humanitarian need?
That element of the question will have to wait until the statements on Iraq. Is there a statistical answer to the question?
I will put the question statistically. How much of the sum the Minister mentions is directly attributable to the neglect of child health and the right of children to survive?
Half a million are dead.
A statistical answer, Minister.
I cannot give a direct answer. The Deputy has put his question statistically for the purpose of putting it on the Official Record but I do not have that figure available. We are all concerned about the holds on applications in the sanctions committee. I am confident this issue will be one of the first to be addressed by the Security Council when it re-examines the question of sanctions and the implementation of the oil for food programme. It is an issue I will return to in my statement to the House later this evening.
According to the UN Secretary General's most recent report on the operation of the UN humanitarian programme for Iraq, the programme contains all the necessary funds for Iraq to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi population. Unfortunately, Iraq has not fully utilised the funds available. That is the view of the UN Secretary General. It is important that the Iraqis improve their access to these funds but clearly it is also important that the holds and delays which have taken place in this programme are removed in respect of those humanitarian assistance programmes which are clearly for the benefit of the Iraqi people who are suffering because of the lack of focus in the sanctions policy against the regime.
I will utilise my ten minutes later for the more general aspects of this issue. The Minister refers to the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan's, most recent report on Iraq. That report also points out the huge scale of the contracts, evidenced by the figures we have mentioned, that are held up in the New York account. It also mentions the delay with the submission agencies and points to the fact that even in the case of those sums that have managed to get to contract, they have supplied defective equipment, out of date medicines and do not supply in such a consistent way as would provide a medical care programme for children and adults.
We can return to this but ultimately the question is what proportion of the figures is affected by the block of two countries on the committee? What precise action will the Minister take to change the position in view of the fact that his colleague the French Minister has issued a statement saying that he cannot stand over what is taking place and he regards it as immoral?
I met him and discussed this issue with him in some detail. Our position on this is quite clear. We want to see the holds and delays eliminated and to see the sanctions lifted as quickly as possible. We also recognise that the Iraqi regime has certain obligations under the Security Council resolutions which they should meet quickly in the interests of alleviating the hardship of their own people.
Since we are talking about a statistical question, am I right in—
We have exceeded the time limit so the Deputy needs to be brief. Standing Orders lay down strict time limits and the Chair has no discretion to change them.
I have one brief question. Does the Minister accept that on the figures he presented to the House that there are over $4 billion available and unallocated and that clearly all the evidence confirms that both the UN Security Council and the Government of Iraq bear complete responsibility for the current humanitarian disaster in Iraq?
Would the Minister confirm that a recent delegation assessed that the amount of humanitarian aid from this fund that has gone to Iraq amounts to the princely sum of $3 per person per month? This is clearly the reason 500,000 children are assumed to have died since the imposition of sanctions. Only $3 per month, per person is being put into Iraq.
I simply refer everybody to the report in full. I do not wish to be accused of picking bits and pieces of it. People may read the whole of it. It speaks of urging the Iraqi Government to increase its daily average rate of oil exports under the programme to at least the levels in the previous phase. At the same time great amounts of money have accrued over time and are at present available for the purchase of humanitarian items but Iraq is choosing not to draw down much of this money. That is also in the report. I am not here to defend the delays in humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people. I simply make the point that the Iraqi regime can improve the situation. The idea that they cannot contribute to improving the situation is erroneous. They can. The manner in which this is handled also raises the issues of making sure that humanitarian assistance gets through and that there is not this wide interpretation of dual use. I have made this point clear to everyone I have met. The Irish Government does have a clear position on this and we will do all we can within the Security Council and with others to improve this situation. We recognise that there are responsibilities to be met by a number of people including the Iraqi Government themselves.
