Vol. 561 No. 4
267 Mr. Timmins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the Government position regarding the UN sanctions on Iraq from their implementation to date; if there has ever been a divergence in this policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4512/03]
Ireland has worked, notably during our term on the Security Council, to ensure UN sanctions are administered in such a way as to ensure the humanitarian and long-term economic interests of the people of Iraq are secured, while also ensuring the necessary controls are in place to prevent Iraq from developing weapons of mass destruction. It is a matter of profound regret that the people of Iraq continue to suffer considerable hardship as a result of their Government's deliberate and persistent violation of successive UN Security Council resolutions aimed at preserving international peace and security. This has been and remains our consistent position. As I stated to the Dáil on 29 January:
The people of Iraq have suffered as a consequence of UN sanctions. Some countries, including Ireland have striven with limited success to reduce the impact of these sanctions on the most vulnerable elements of society. The Iraqi authorities could have ensured the lifting of sanctions by co-operating with the inspectors. Instead, they sought to use the sanctions as a propaganda tool, disrupting revenue flows to the oil for food programme and failing to concentrate contracts on areas of greatest humanitarian need.
UN Security Council Resolution 1409, which was adopted in May 2002, places the operation of sanctions on a new basis. It seeks to target sanctions against the Iraqi regime while minimising the impact of those sanctions on the civilian population. In particular, the provisions of Resolution 1409 were intended to ensure continuing availability of medical supplies for the most vulnerable sectors of the Iraqi population, including mothers and children. Ireland played an active role in the development of this resolution.
The Government wants to see circumstances brought about which would permit the lifting of the sanctions against Iraq altogether. Those circumstances do not currently exist. Until such time as those circumstances arise, the application of a targeted sanctions regime, as set out in Resolution 1409, is the best means of ensuring that the primacy of the Security Council Resolutions is respected and humanitarian concerns are addressed.
The fact remains, however, that the most effective way of easing the humanitarian situation of the Iraqi people and avoiding any escalation in the current situation would be for the Iraqi Government to act immediately to meet its obligations under the UN Charter by complying fully with the demands placed upon it by the Security Council.
