Written Answers Nos. 53-60
53. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps the EU will take to re-launch the Israel-Palestine peace process in view of President Obama's visit to the region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15596/13]
View answerI have noted on many occasions in the past year, including here in the Oireachtas, that the Middle East Peace Process has become bogged down and is badly in need of a renewed impetus. The uncertainties linked to the elections in both Israel and the USA contributed to this stalemate. Conversely, the renewed electoral mandates now of both the Israeli Government and the US Administration provide an important opportunity to restore momentum to the process.
While it is important not to overstate matters or to create false expectations, President Obama’s visit to Israel last week represented an early move on the part of the United States to explore this opportunity. The President made clear that he was in listening mode and would not be launching any initiative.
Nonetheless, his public outreach to both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples (including an important address in Jerusalem on 21 March to a largely young Israeli audience) and his lengthy political discussions in private with both parties to the conflict were significant steps. The President and Secretary Kerry will now reflect on what they have heard and on what may be possible.
The European Union has always recognised that it would be very difficult to restart negotiations in the Middle East without the active engagement of the United States. The EU will be working hard, accordingly, to encourage and support this renewed US involvement, in our contacts with the parties in the region and also in our exchanges with political opinion in the US itself. I already conveyed to Secretary Kerry the strong encouragement of the EU and discussed the possibilities with him at a meeting I had with him in Washington on 18 March just before he left for Israel.
As I have stated elsewhere, I also believe that the EU must remain active as well on the practical issues on the ground which we have highlighted in the last year – and which have the potential to destroy any political effort to reach agreement if they are allowed to fester.
55. Deputy John Halligan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the limits being imposed on the fishermen of Gaza; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15571/13]
View answer56. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Israelis are only allowing fishermen from Gaza to fish three miles from the coast; if he will consider making a statement of protest; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15569/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 56 together.
I have consistently stressed, since I took office, the need for an end to the wide range of restrictions imposed on Gaza by Israel. These restrictions have been imposed in response to actions by militant groups in Gaza but their effect is impacting very negatively on the whole population. One of them has been the confining of fishing boats from Gaza to a zone only three miles from the coast. This has led to the complete depletion of fish stocks in that narrow zone and thus the effective loss of one of the few natural resources available to people in Gaza.
I therefore welcomed the extension by Israel of this limit to six miles, following the renewed ceasefire in Gaza in November, and I hoped for further relaxations in this regard.
It is very disappointing, therefore, that in recent days Israel, in response to missiles fired from Gaza at Israeli population centres last week, both closed the border to transfers of goods and restricted the fishing limit once again to three miles. It is to be hoped that these are temporary responses to a specific event and that they will be ended quickly. I deplore, however, this apparent return to a policy of penalising the population as a whole for the actions of militants, a policy which I consider both unjust and counterproductive. The militant groups in Gaza who fire these missiles have already demonstrated that they do not care very much about the impact of their actions on the population around them.
Equally, I firmly condemn the action of firing missiles at Israeli towns with the express intention of killing civilians and spreading terror. It is difficult not to conclude that, by doing so during the visit of President Obama to Israel, and as he spoke to revive Israel’s engagement in peace efforts, those responsible quite intentionally hoped to provoke a response against the people of Gaza and a setback to peace efforts.
57. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if enterprises based in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are currently receiving financial support from EU programmes; and his views on whether Irish companies and persons should be discouraged from investing in enterprises in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. [15534/13]
View answerEU cooperation programmes with external partner countries, and entities located in them, are administered by the European Commission; my Department is not in a position to monitor enterprises in those countries or entities which might be in receipt of some degree of EU support. I think it is likely that some enterprises based in settlements may have benefitted from EU programmes in the past, due to ambiguities in the criteria, and I cannot rule out that some such cases may still exist. In my view, participation in EU programmes by companies based in settlements would be contrary to the EU's clearly stated position on settlements; and I would hope that, as programmes come up for renewal, the eligibility criteria can be clarified to exclude this.
The Deputy will be aware that the Foreign Affairs Council last December referred in its conclusions to the commitment of the EU "to ensure that – in line with international law – all agreements between the State of Israel and the European Union must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967."
I would encourage Irish companies and persons to consider very carefully the purpose and implications of any investment they may consider in the settlements. My Department's official travel advice also contains a clear warning that the purchase of property in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territory is subject to risk and should not be undertaken without independent legal advice first being sought.
59. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide further information on his visit to the Northern Ireland Assembly to discuss Ireland’s Presidency of the European Union; and if any decisions were made to ensure the Presidency has a strong North-South dimension. [15520/13]
View answerI have made every effort to ensure that the Northern Irish Administration has been fully sensitised to our Presidency of the EU and I first raised it in a detailed manner with the First Minister and deputy First Minister at an NSMC Institutional meeting on 27 April 2012. My aim has been to ensure that we gain maximum mutual benefit from the Presidency.
The Irish Presidency and other EU-related matters featured prominently at most NSMC meetings, during 2012, particularly the Plenary, and Ministers availed of all opportunities to brief their counterparts on the Presidency priorities in their sectors. This has continued in 2013 and Ministers used these opportunities to invite their Executive colleagues to participate in relevant Presidency events and a number have already done so. This positive engagement has helped to strengthen North/South cooperation, availing of the first Irish EU Presidency during an operational North South Ministerial Council.
Last October Minister of State Creighton briefed the EC-UK Forum in Stormont on Ireland’s Presidency priorities at the invitation of Northern Ireland Assembly’s Chairman of the Committee for the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM), Mike Nesbitt MLA. More recently, on 6 March Minster Creighton briefed the OFMDFM Committee on the work of the Presidency to date and on the plans for the remainder of the semester. Those attending included members of the NI Assembly Business Trust, which brings business representatives and Members of the Assembly together. During the visit she paid a courtesy call on the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Willie Hay MLA and met the two junior Ministers in the OFDFM, Jonathan Bell MLA and Jennifer McCann MLA.
Underscoring the European Union’s continued commitment to Northern Ireland, I am pleased to report that following intensive lobbying by the Government and subject to approval by the European Parliament, the EU will be contributing €150 million to a new PEACE programme.
60. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide details of his recent official visit to Tanzania and Mozambique; the Irish Aid programmes he visited in Mozambique and Tanzania; and if he will provide a report of what was discussed and decided at the EU-Southern African Development Community Political Dialogue which he chaired. [15527/13]
View answerBetween 10 and 23 March, I visited Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique to examine the impact of Ireland’s development assistance programme and opportunities for the expansion of trade and investment. My programme in South Africa was predominantly focused on strengthening economic and business links with Ireland.
Tanzania and Mozambique are priority countries for the Government’s aid programme, where we have a commitment to long term strategic assistance. Our programmes in both countries are focused on reducing poverty through improved livelihoods for smallholder farmers, more equitable and better quality public health services and improved nutritional status for women and children. We also work in areas such as governance, gender equality and building systems of accountability which will ensure lasting development results for the poorest people and communities.
In Tanzania, I visited health centres and schools to see how Ireland's support for health, education and nutrition programmes are making a lasting difference in people’s lives. I also visited Dar es Salaam port, and a rural electrification project operated by ESBI, and I met with Irish and local businesses to discuss how we can continue to increase trade volumes between Ireland and Tanzania. In Mozambique, I saw how Ireland’s targeted development programme supports the poorest families to access education, basic healthcare and improve their livelihoods. I also met with Irish and local business community members to see how the Government can best support Irish companies, including agri-businesses, to enter the emerging Mozambican market. I visited Inhambane, one of the two provinces where Ireland focuses its support, an area which is now developing following decades of destruction in the civil war. I saw important signs of change, including during a school visit, but also the serious challenges that remain to be addressed. One of these is the scourge of HIV and AIDS and other communicable diseases, including TB, which I discussed with our partners, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and during a visit to a health centre and a home based care organisation. I also saw how Ireland is working in Mozambique to improve the capacity of the private sector to provide jobs and economic opportunities.
In Maputo on 20 March, with the Foreign Ministers of Mozambique and Tanzania, I co-chaired, as the representative of Ireland’s EU Presidency, the first meeting in five years of the political dialogue between the EU and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the political and economic association of 15 countries in the region. We discussed the economic situation in the region, which is experiencing impressive economic growth, and the need for greater progress on trade liberalisation between the EU and southern Africa. We also focused on important developments in the political situation in Zimbabwe, in the wake of the constitutional referendum, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar.
The meeting served to restore the official dialogue between the EU and SADC. We agreed that Ministerial-level meetings will now be organised every two years, along with annual meetings at senior official level.
