Vol. 501 No. 4
149 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he or any official from his Department will attend the proposed conference on heroin to be held in Burma; if he supported the Interpol proposal to hold a conference in Burma; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6330/99]
I wish to inform the Deputy that I did not attend the Fourth International Heroin Conference organised by the Interpol General Secretariat in co-operation with the Burmese Government and held in Rangoon, Burma from 23-26 February 1999; and neither did any official from my Department, or any member of the Garda Síochána.
I did not support the Interpol proposal to hold a conference in Burma. Both my colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and myself believed, in common with many of our EU partners, that attendance at the conference would have undermined the credibility of the EU's approach to relations with Burma.
