asked the Minister for External Affairs if he will state, with reference to the United Nations Organisation, what countries are in arrears with their financial contributions; and the extent of such arrears in each case.
Written Answers. - UNO Contributions.
76.
I have placed in the Library a copy of "Financial Report and Accounts for the year ended 31st December, 1969 and Report of the Board of Auditors", which contains full information on contributions paid and due by member States for 1969, the most recent year for which UN accounts have been published. This document shows in Schedule 3 that the total assessment on member States for the regular budget for that year was $143,467,267, of which a sum of $49,831,281 was unpaid as at 31st December, 1969. When balances due by member States in respect of the regular budget for previous years are added, the total unpaid as at 31st December, 1969, was $58,236,915. The Deputy will appreciate that Parliamentary procedures, Budgetary practices and other factors sometimes delay actual payments by national administrations and that some contributions for 1969 would have been paid after the end of that year. Certain Governments regard as illegal the inclusion in the regular budget of expenditure items such as the UN bond issue, the UN commission for the unification and rehabilitation of Korea, the UN memorial cemetery in Korea, the UN field service and prior to 1968, UNTSO. To try to establish accurately how much is due on foot of items such as the foregoing would require a major accounting study, since under the UN financial regulations current contributions are applied in the first instance to liquidating or reducing any arrears. I understand that by 31st December, 1970, the total outstanding at the end of the previous year had been reduced, through payment of contributions in 1970 for 1970 and previous years to less than $9,000,000.
A serious situation continues to exist in regard to two former UN peacekeeping operations. Assessed contributions unpaid as at 31st December, 1969, for the special account of the United Nations emergency force and the ad hoc account for the United Nations operation in the Congo amounted to $50,510,287 and $82,102,487, respectively. I regret to say that no material improvement in the status of these accounts had taken place in 1970. The annex to the document to which I have referred points out that certain Governments take the view, which the Irish Government do not share, that the expenditures involved have been illegally included therein and that they do not consider themselves bound to participate in these expenditures under the provisions of Article 17 of the Charter.