Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 10 Mar 1992

Vol. 417 No. 1

Written Answers. - Assistance for Emerging Democracies.

Eamon Gilmore

Ceist:

257 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will outline the consideration that has been given to the creation of employment for Irish citizens in training and technology transfer to Eastern and Central European countries; and if any proposals have been made by any interested parties in connection with such activity.

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Andrews)

From the beginning of the democratisation of Central and Eastern Europe my Department has been active in the promotion of Irish technical assitance to the newly emerging democracies. As well as the direct benefit to the recipient countries this has helped Irish firms and State bodies to establish contacts and relationships which have been of help in the creation of employment for Irish citizens.

In 1989, when the democratisation of Poland and Hungary began, the Government decided to provide £IR650,000 for bilateral technical assistance to these two countries. This year we are providing a further £IR100,000 in bilateral assistance to Central and Eastern Europe.

These amounts are additional to our contributions to the substantial multilateral funds provided through the EC, and also through the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the United Nations system.

The funding which we provided for bilateral technical assistance projects has allowed a number of Irish organisations and companies from both the semi-State and private sector to gain a foothold in Central and Eastern Europe. Through their handling of these projects they have laid the foundations for Irish involvement in further activities funded from multilateral sources, in particular the European Communities and the World Bank, as well as United Nations agencies. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is also likely to provide further opportunites when its activities get properly off the ground.

My Department has been particularly active in assisting Irish organisations and companies to gain contracts in Central and Eastern Europe. Our Permanent Representation to the EC in Brussels, our embassies in Moscow, Stockholm, Vienna and our recently opened embassy in Warsaw (which between them cover Poland, the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Russian Federation, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) has been liaising closely with the European Commission and the recipient states in order to facilitate access to the various programmes.