asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the present position with regard to the arbitration on the division of the Continental Shelf between Ireland and Britain.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Continental Shelf Division.
15.
Discussions are continuing with the British with a view to reaching agreement on a mutually acceptable third party settlement procedure to adjudicate the delimitation question.
As the Minister will appreciate, I originally put this question down to the Taoiseach because of the involvement of the Attorney General and it was transferred without my agreement to the Minister. I am surprised at the Minister's reply. Surely these discussions had been completed before the change of Government. My recollection is that the kind of arbitration we were going to have with the British had already been agreed with them. Is there still some uncertainty about that?
As the Parliamentary Secretary will appreciate, the discussions had been interrupted. I recall this matter being specifically referred to by the Taoiseach at the Downing Street talks. It was agreed that the discussions which had been interrupted for some months would be resumed with a degree of urgency.
I am not interested in going into detail to try to be embarrassing to either side of what is intended to be a friendly though serious arbitration. It had definitely been proposed by one side and agreed by the other side before the National Coalition Government left office what sort of tribunal was going to arbitrate this very important issue. That agreement had followed a very long period of inconclusive discussions in which Irish officials——
This is a statement, Deputy.
——shuttled back and forth to London and British officials shuttled back and forth to here. I am as anxious as the Minister that this matter be finalised favourably to us as quickly as possible.
I share the Deputy's concern. A meeting had been fixed tentatively for the 21st July and that meeting was postponed at the request of the British. For that reason, we brought up the matter at the meeting between the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach. I can tell the Deputy that the official discussions are proceeding, but there is not much more I can say at this stage beyond guaranteeing him that we do share the same concern for a speedy conclusion.
Of course I accept that the Minister's heart is in the right place about all this, but I want to warn him from my own short experience and involvement here——
I am calling the next question.
——that there are huge delays in this thing and unless one keeps pushing the British one will get no further with them. I am surprised at this relatively tame attitude from a Minister who first made his name over a hawkish attitude towards Rockall.
One can be tame but effective and that is what I want to be.
We will see. I wish the Minister all the best.