Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 June 2023
40. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs to provide details on the number of times the United States has exercised its veto at the UN Security Council to veto resolutions in regard to Israel-Palestine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29899/23]
View answerRecords on the use of vetoes at the United Nations Security Council, including in relation to the specific resolutions in respect of which each of the permanent five members of the Council have used their veto, are available at the United Nations Dag Hammarskjold Library, which is publicly accessible online.
In total, Russia/USSR has used its veto 123 times, the US 82 times, the UK 29 times, China 17 times, and France 16 times. France and the United Kingdom have not used the veto since 1989.
Ireland has consistently opposed all uses of the veto. During Ireland's recent term as an elected member of the UNSC (2021-2022) we saw at first hand how the veto can be used to prevent the Council from fulfilling its mandate.
Ireland has consistently called for the power of the veto held by the Permanent Five (P5) members of the Security Council to be abolished. The veto is an anachronism and has no place in the 21st century. Permanent membership should be about timeframes, institutional knowledge, representation and effectiveness, not access to unilateral power.
Ireland was a member from the outset of the core group of states, led by Liechtenstein, who proposed the resolution on veto use that was adopted by the General Assembly on 26 April 2022. This initiative does not prevent the use of the veto. However, it does mean that now, whenever a veto is used, the Permanent Member responsible must explain their decision to the General Assembly. We hope that this will seek to raise the political cost of using it. At the very least, it gives the wider UN membership, at the General Assembly, a voice, when the Security Council has been prevented from acting by the use of a veto.
