Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 15 Dec 1998

Vol. 498 No. 4

Written Answers. - UN Mission.

Breeda Moynihan-Cronin

Ceist:

34 Mrs. B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the amount of funding owed to the Government in respect of Irish troops serving in United Nations missions; and the steps, if any, he has taken to recoup this. [27577/98]

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Andrews)

As of 10 December 1998, the amount owing to Ireland by the UN arising from our participation in peacekeeping operations was £7.2 millon. Most of these arrears are owed in respect of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, a peacekeeping operation to which Ireland provides a troop battalion of some 620 personnel as our most significant commitment to the maintenance of internatonal peace and security under the UN Charter.

In the past six months, the UN repaid arrears to Ireland totalling some £5.2 million.

Notwithstanding the significant repayment of arrears by the UN over the past six months, and the consistent downward trend in the level of arrears outstanding, the issue of arrears owing to Ireland is of considerable concern and this issue is pursued on an ongoing basis by the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations in New York. We have consistently reiterated our view that every effort should be made by the UN to reduce the amount of arrears owing to troop-contribution countries such as Ireland.

It is clear, however, that the problem of subtantial arrears owing to Ireland and other troop-contributing countries is a direct result of the unprecedented financial crisis which the UN is currently experiencing and not due to any unwillingness on the part of the UN Secretariat to clear them. This crisis has been caused by the failure of many member states, and in particular the US, to pay their assessed contributions to the UN regular and peace-keeping budgets in full and on time. I welcome the recent reductions in US arrears to the UN. However, the overall arrears problem has led to a situation in which the Secretary-General has been forced to delay normal reimbursements to troop contributors in order to deal with the serious cash flow situation facing the UN system. Ireland, along with our EU partners, is firm in the demand that all member states of the UN should honour promptly and in full their financial obligations to the organisation under the UN Charter.

We hope that efforts to resolve the UN financial crisis will lead to a reduction and eventual clearance of debts owing to Ireland and other troop-contributing countries. I can assure the House that our Permanent Mission at New York will continue to make regular representations in this context.