The issue raised by the Deputy is of great importance to me personally and to the large number of host families and organisations who have organised annual visits to Ireland by children from Belarus for over 18 years.
My Department became aware of possible restrictions on the children's travel in late August 2008. I met with Adi Roche of Chernobyl Children's Project International on 8 September to review the situation, and also asked the Chargé d'Affaires of the Belarusian Embassy in London to visit Dublin later that week to open discussions on an agreement to provide a framework for visits by Chernobyl children. Intensive discussions with Belarus, at both Ministerial and official level followed.
On 8 December 2008, our Ambassador to Belarus, who is based in Moscow, led a delegation comprising officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, to Minsk where they successfully concluded negotiations on a bilateral Agreement on the conditions of rest and recuperation of children from the Republic of Belarus in Ireland.
The text of the Agreement was initialled by both parties, and it was agreed that the official signing ceremony would take place as soon as a Presidential Decree issued which would exempt Ireland from the provisions of an earlier Decree relating to future international travel by Belarusian minors. A Protocol to the Agreement was also signed on 8 December, which confirmed that children would be allowed to travel over the Christmas period. I was especially pleased that these visits were able to go ahead, as this was an issue that I had pressed strongly in my contacts with Belarusian Foreign Minister Martynov. I have been gratified by the extremely positive response from the various charities that organised visits to Ireland at that time.
Following contact from the Belarus authorities before Christmas, it was expected that the Agreement would be signed on 30 January 2009 in Minsk. However, my Department was informed last week that a Presidential Decree, which is required to be signed in advance of the signing of the Agreement, has yet to issue. For this reason, it did not prove possible to proceed with signature, and it has now been postponed. The Belarusian side also sought some textual changes to the Agreement, and these are being examined at present.
My Department is maintaining regular contact with the Belarusian authorities, and we are prepared to sign the Agreement at the earliest opportunity. It is my intention to have the Agreement signed as soon as possible after the required Presidential Decree issues and well in advance of the next round of scheduled visits to Ireland by Chernobyl children next summer. I stand ready to intervene personally, if necessary, to finalise this matter.