I propose to take Questions Nos. 1042, 1045, 1046, 1053 and 1058 together.
Ireland has a long tradition, dating back 17 years, of hosting children from Belarus for holiday periods with the agreement of the Belarussian authorities. Ireland can be proud of this generous response to those affected by the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. I warmly commend the various charities and host families for their tireless work on behalf of the children from the affected area. As the mark of the Government's support for the work of the Chernobyl Children's Project International, Irish Aid committed €600,000 over three years in March 2008 for the development of day care centres in Belarus. More recently, on my instructions, the Irish ambassador to Moscow, who is also accredited to Minsk, travelled to the Belarussian capital on 9 September to register with the Belarussian authorities the Government's concern about the suspension of the visits by children from Belarus to Ireland. In addition, at my invitation, the chargé d'affaires of the embassy of the Republic of Belarus travelled to Dublin on 11 September to discuss with me ways of overcoming the suspension. The chargé d'affaires also met officials from my Department and the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.
Following contact with my colleagues, the Attorney General and the Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs, I instructed officials in my Department to start immediate negotiations with the Belarussian authorities on an international agreement on the recuperation of Belarussian children in Ireland. I am confident that it will be possible to conclude negotiations on this agreement quickly despite differences in the legal and administrative systems in Ireland and Belarus. In the meantime, I have conveyed to the Government of Belarus our strong hope that, while negotiations are continuing, it can agree to allow the visits by the children from Chernobyl to go ahead next Christmas.