Vol. 526 No. 6
88 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the steps that have been taken to meet the commitment given in the Review of an Action Programme for the Millennium to strengthen the international nuclear non-proliferation programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27502/00]
In An Action Programme for the Millennium the Government stated its commitment to use all available diplomatic fora to advance nuclear disarmament, in particular by working to strengthen the international non-proliferation regime. An active dialogue is maintained on this subject in the multi-lateral disarmament fora in New York, Vienna, the Hague and Geneva, as well as with our EU partners. Reflecting our commitment to this issue, Ireland in 1998 initiated the New Agenda Coalition to work to re-invigorate the non-proliferation debate. I myself headed the Irish delegation to the Sixth Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in May last where the goals of the new agenda were adopted by the conference by consensus.
On 14 September, in my intervention during the general debate of the United Nations General Assembly, I again stated Ireland's goals in this field arguing that the outcome of the review conference should be viewed as "an opportunity to begin a root and branch elimination of these weapons". I pledged Ireland's commitment to work vigorously together with our new agenda partners and others to achieve this goal.
This commitment has already borne fruit. In the subsequent consideration of the issue in the General Assembly extensive consultations with interested parties led to a record vote of 154 countries in favour of the resolution ‘Towards a nuclear-weapon-free world: the need for a New Agenda' on 20 November. Three of the five nuclear weapons states voted in favour of the resolution. The new agenda approach contained in the resolution is now accepted by the international community as the way forward to achieving the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. Therefore, in the space of two years the new agenda has become the new standard in nuclear non-proliferation.
