Vol. 562 No. 5
126 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the amount of plutonium which has been or is being assessed by the IAEA for the Middle Eastern countries, including Israel; where such assessments lead in terms of conclusion as to weapons of mass destruction; the reason the Government remains silent on these issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6410/03]
The International Atomic Energy Agency can only perform inspection and verification activity in those states which are party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and have concluded comprehensive safeguards agreements with the agency. All but one country in the Middle East region, i.e. Israel, have such safeguards in place.
With regard to those countries in the Middle East with safeguards and therefore subject to inspection, the IAEA confirms that the amount of plutonium in their facilities can be described as negligible because there are no power reactors in the region and research reactors do not produce significant quantities.
Israel is one of the three countries which remain outside the NPT and thus no IAEA inspection of their facilities is possible. Ireland has repeatedly called on those three countries to adhere to the NPT as non-nuclear weapon states and submit themselves to full scope safeguards.
