Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 October 2020
97. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will outline the immediate priorities of Ireland’s membership of the UN Security Council; and the resources that are being invested to maximise membership; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28481/20]
View answerThis question refers to our forthcoming membership of the UN Security Council. I commend the Minister on the massive effort he and his team in the Department all over the world and here put into this. It is a significant achievement for a small country. Now that we have it, what are we going to do with it? Will we make a difference and leave a legacy behind after our two years?
It has been a while since I have been questioned by the Deputy. Normally, I have been used to looking at him over on the other side on Thursday morning. It is nice to be on the same side for a change.
Ireland will take up its seat on the UN Security Council for the 2021-2022 term on 1 January. We will engage constructively across the Council agenda, which has nearly tripled since Ireland last held a seat 20 years ago. The last time Ireland was on the Security Council, it was dealing with nine files concerning conflicts around the world. Today, it is dealing with 31.
Three principles will underpin our approach, namely building peace, strengthening prevention, and ensuring accountability. The Taoiseach elaborated on these principles in his address to the General Assembly on 26 September. Work is now ongoing to identify specific priorities, taking into consideration where we can have most impact. We will look at how peacekeeping mandates might be improved, as well as how we can strengthen the link between peacekeeping and peacebuilding, while ensuring the involvement of women, young people and civil society.
We will seek to address factors underlying conflict, such as human rights violations and climate change, while strengthening the protection of civilians, including from conflict-related hunger. We will also seek to uphold mechanisms for accountability, supporting the International Criminal Court and ensuring the Security Council can do more in holding states and state actors to account. We will also engage across the range of country specific issues that make up the majority of the Council agenda.
In the period ahead, I will undertake a series of consultations with permanent and elected members of the Council. I will also consult with a range of other states, including those that host UN missions and countries that contribute troops to peacekeeping operations. We are keen to ensure an open dialogue with domestic partners while making use of the extensive expertise available in Irish civil society organisations and academia, including through a stakeholder forum established in partnership with the IIEA, the Institute of International and European Affairs.
The Minister mentioned the incredibly complex agenda. That is why, in the context of the two years we have, we do not have a significant opportunity to make an impact. I suggest the issue of climate justice should be at the heart of everything we do. The Minister will see that is at the root of the growing complexity of many of the issues he just mentioned such as peace. I listened to the exchange between the Minister and Deputy Brady around natural resources, Cyprus and Turkey. There is also the impact of the worsening climate situation on crops and food, as well as the protection of civilians. We have an opportunity if we place that at the heart of our mission and skill up our teams in our approaches. Then we might be able to say at the end of the two years that we have made a difference. We have the enormous influence of Mary Robinson, former UN Commissioner, who has done so much work in this area. The Minister referred to the UNHCR earlier. We have an opportunity, as well as waking ourselves up domestically, to put this at the heart of the agenda internationally and domestically.
Climate and its contribution to instability and insecurity will be a big part of what we are doing. We need to be clear, however, that there are powerful states on the Security Council which do not accept that climate change has anything to do with international security and has no place on the UN Security Council agenda. The first thing we have to do is work with other member states to actually ensure that climate change and climate justice is part of the security agenda globally. My understanding is that ten of the 15 members currently on the Security Council accept that. However, others do not and will veto attempts to even bring climate change into the space of Security Council debate.
It is not as simple as saying this is important to us and we are going to bring it to the Security Council. We have to be smart enough to be able to build alliances around issues that we care about and on which we have credibility. This will allow us to be able to bring about policy change and a change of approach on the Security Council with the permanent five who ultimately have a veto to prevent actions and with the other ten members. Climate will be a big part of what we are trying to do and we have already committed to that.
Young people internationally would put climate justice on the agenda, even in those five permanent member countries.
In terms of the complexity of the issues involved, what resources is the Minister intending to apply to the membership in terms of extra staff and investment? Will there be an allocation in next week's budget specifically towards serving our membership and maximising our voice at Security Council level?
The Deputy is correct on young people. We need to try to involve young people and women on much of the post-conflict management, conflict prevention and the accountability agenda, which is important from an Irish perspective. We need to be a country that holds in some cases big powerful friends of ours to account through international mechanisms and the Rome Statute.
There was an agreement between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform that if we were successful in getting onto the Security Council, resources would be made available to ensure Ireland had an impactful presence. We have already committed resources in terms of a significant increase in staff numbers in New York. We will be opening a number of embassies this year that are quite strategic in terms of Security Council membership. We will be beefing up our presence in capitals where we believe doing so is necessary to make sure that Ireland is both listened to and is relevant. Resources will not be an issue.
