I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 10 together.
As I explained in the House on many occasions, the Government is strongly committed to the full implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina, an integral part of which is compliance by the parties involved with the orders of the international criminal tribunal, including handing over indicted suspects.
As Deputy O'Malley points out, only a very small number of indictees have so far appeared before the tribunal in The Hague. The vast majority of suspects remain at large, including some of those charged with the most serious and heinous crimes against humanity in recent times — people such as Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic who are accused of responsibility for massacring thousands of innocent civilians during the conflict in Bosnia. All those who have been indicted must appear before the tribunal if true peace and justice is to be established in the region. First and foremost, the responsibility for handing over suspects lies with the authorities of the territories where these people are residing. The majority, though not all of these, are in the Republica Srpska. Political and diplomatic pressure must be maintained on the Serbs to comply, both directly and through Belgrade. The Government fully supports all such efforts.
The Government fully and actively supports the work of the tribunal. This support is not only demonstrated in political and diplomatic terms but also in very practical ways. In this regard, in addition to previous voluntary contributions and payment of our annual assessed UN contribution for the running costs of the tribunal, the Government had, towards the end of last year, contributed a further $100,000 to assist the work of the tribunal. In international fora, including within the EU and at the London Peace Implementation Conference in December 1996, we have supported measures aimed at making greater resources available to the tribunal to enhance its investigative powers.
Ireland also fully supports the decision taken at the London conference to make the granting of economic reconstruction assistance conditional upon, inter alia, compliance with the orders of the international criminal tribunal. The meeting in Brussels on 9 and 10 January to which Deputy Molloy refers was a technical level meeting on reconstruction priorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was not a decision-making meeting. There was no question of any aid package for Serbia being discussed. In the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the European Commission has, in broad terms, outlined the priority sectors identified for reconstruction funding in 1997 and subsequent years. Funds are not being specifically earmarked for the Republica Srpska entity. Although projects have been identified and costed, the disbursement of funding is subject to political conditionality, and this has been made clear to the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including in the Republica Srpska. The European Union has fully endorsed the conclusions of the London conference which state that economic assistance will be conditional upon implementation of the peace agreement, including co-operation with the international criminal tribunal. This policy will determine how the European Commission disburses its funds.