Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 21 Jun 1988

Vol. 382 No. 5

Written Answers. - Arms Control.

25.

Mr. Quinn

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government will consider the idea put forward in Stockholm by the Six National Initiative Leaders for a multilateral verification system within the United Nations as being a first step towards the strengthened and multilateral framework required to ensure peace and security during the process of disarmament as well as in a nuclear weapons free world; whether the Government will respond positively towards this idea when it is introduced at the forthcoming United Nations special session on disarmament; if the Government supports, in principle, a role for the United Nations in the verification of arms control agreements; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

48.

Mr. T. Kitt

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government will give positive consideration to the idea put forward in Stockholm by Six Nation Initiative Leaders for a multilateral verification system within the United Nations, this being a first step towards a strengthened multilateral framework required to ensure peace and security during the process of disarmament as well as in a nuclear weapons-free world; and if the Government, in principle, supports a role for the United Nations in the verification of arms control agreements.

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Lenihan)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 25 and 48 together. The Government will naturally give the fullest consideration to the proposal of the leaders of the Six Nation Initiative for a multilateral system of verification within the UN framework. As a matter of principle, the Government welcome all concrete measures designed to reinforce and enhance the role of the United Nations in the field of disarmament. Consistent with this policy, if a useful role can be identified for the UN to play in the area of multilateral verification, we would be fully prepared to lend it our support. As the Deputy will be aware, the Special Session is currently underway, and the proposal of the Six Nation Initiative is one of a number of other proposals on the question of the UN and disarmament. It will, therefore, be necessary to wait and see how discussions evolve in the course of the Special Session.