Vol. 571 No. 2
146 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the Government's position on the need for UN reform; if, and the way in which, the Government intends to respond to the UN Secretary General's recent call for international backing for UN reform; and if, and the way in which, the Irish EU Presidency will be used for such a purpose. [21095/03]
172 Mr. P. Breen asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the proposals the Government has made on UN reform. [21127/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 146 and 172 together.
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September, the Taoiseach called on member states to take action to enhance the effectiveness and the legitimacy of the United Nations. The Taoiseach pointed out that to be effective, the UN required the support of all its members, who must respect its decisions, and if necessary act to ensure that they are respected. To be fully legitimate, it must be seen to work in the interests of the entire international community. He called on the member states to use the United Nations to harness their collective resources in the interests of all mankind, rather than in defence of narrow national interest.
The Taoiseach strongly supported the call made by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in his own address to the General Assembly on 23 September, when he spoke of the need for a hard look to be taken at fundamental policy issues and at the structural changes that may be needed in the UN. He said that the UN and its member states must not shy away from questions about the adequacy and the effectiveness of the rules and instruments at their disposal.
The Secretary General said that the Security Council must regain the confidence of states and of world public opinion by demonstrating its ability to deal effectively with the most difficult issues and by becoming more broadly representative of the international community as a whole, as well as of the geopolitical realities of today. He also stated that the General Assembly needed reform to ensure that important issues were not, as he put it, crowded out by repetitive and sterile debates.
The Taoiseach and his fellow heads of Government committed themselves to a reform of the United Nations three years ago in the millennium declaration. The General Assembly in 2002 adopted a comprehensive resolution on strengthening the UN system, and some progress has been made in implementing it. One area of undoubted progress has been the major reforms undertaken in UN peacekeeping operations. In view of Ireland's long standing status as a contributor of troops for UN peacekeeping missions, the Government greatly welcomed these reforms, which include consultation with troop contributors ahead of the framing of mandates for UN peacekeeping operations. The Secretary General has also made substantial progress in bringing about much needed reform in the areas under his own competence, particularly in the management and structure of the secretariat.
Fundamental institutional questions, however, remain to be tackled.
To give an impetus to the process of reform, the Secretary General has expressed his intention to establish a high level panel to recommend ways of strengthening the United Nations, through reform of its institutions and processes. By the next General Assembly, the member states should have before it a set of proposals drawn up by this high level panel and the Government greatly welcomes this. This does not absolve the member states from continuing to seek agreement among themselves on reform of the General Assembly and the Security Council.
The effort to revitalise the General Assembly to date has largely focused on the streamlining of its agenda and its procedures, to promote a more efficient and less repetitive approach to its work. Progress in this area has been slow and incremental, and requires persistence, particularly on the part of the President of the General Assembly, whose difficult task it is to secure the agreement of the member states for change. I have assured the incoming President that, like his predecessors, he will have Ireland's full support in his efforts. During Ireland's Presidency of the European Union, we will work to marshal the support of the EU and its member states for the reform process.
The question of reform of the structure and composition of the Security Council is a matter for the broad membership of the UN, represented in the General Assembly. It remains an exceptionally difficult issue. There is widespread acknowledgement that the Council's composition is unrepresentative. Ireland and like minded partners have proposed an increase in both the permanent and the elected membership to create an enlarged Security Council of between 20 and 25 members. We have also proposed that the permanent members accept a limitation of the veto whereby they would exercise it only when the question in hand was one of vital national importance, taking into account also the interests of the United Nations as a whole. At the same time, any new permanent members of the Council would commit themselves not to exercise the veto.
Unfortunately, the political will that would allow agreement to be reached has been lacking. As the Taoiseach said in his statement, the member states baulked from taking the hard decisions. Clearly a new impetus is needed.
With the best will in the world, structural reform of the Security Council will take time, and the issues that the Council has to deal with are usually immediate ones of peace and security. The difficulties facing the reform agenda do not absolve the members of the Security Council from reaching agreement as quickly as possible on issues of the day. It was our experience as Council members that the Security Council could, and did, act very effectively to address issues of peace and security when it acted as a united body.
