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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 30 Sep 2003

Vol. 571 No. 1

Written Answers. - Nuclear Weapons.

Finian McGrath

Ceist:

417 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the US, Britain, Russia, China, Pakistan, France, India, Israel and North Korea are the only countries in the world possessing nuclear weapons; and his plans at EU and UN levels to broach ridding the world of these weapons of mass destruction. [19757/03]

The primary multilateral regime to promote nuclear disarmament and to prevent proliferation is the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, NPT, which came into force in 1970. The NPT does not prohibit the possession of nuclear weapons by those states which had manufactured and exploded such weapons prior to January 1967 – the US, UK, France, Russian Federation and China. However, Article VI of the NPT requires each state party, inter alia, to pursue negotiations in good faith on nuclear disarmament. Non-nuclear weapon states parties have agreed not to acquire or develop nuclear weapons, non-proliferation compliance being monitored via a comprehensive safeguards agreement negotiated by each signatory with the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA.

India, Pakistan and Israel are not state parties to the NPT and accordingly are not bound by its provisions nor have they entered into comprehensive safeguards agreements with the IAEA. As a consequence, IAEA inspections cannot take place in these countries. In relation to India and Pakistan, Ireland strongly supports United Nations Security Council Resolution 1172 passed in June 1998 which, inter alia, calls on India and Pakistan to become parties to the NPT and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, CTBT, and to immediately stop their nuclear weapons development programmes, including the development of ballistic missiles capable of nuclear weapons delivery.

On 10 January 2003, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK, announced its "immediate withdrawal" from the NPT after it had directed IAEA inspectors to leave the nuclear site they were monitoring at Yongbyon. Ireland and its EU partners remains seriously concerned at the DRPK's nuclear programme and its failure to comply with its IAEA safeguards agreement. The EU has urged the DPRK to visibly, verifiably and irreversibly dismantle its nuclear programme, as a fundamental step to facilitate a comprehensive and peaceful solution.

Proliferation concerns have also been expressed in respect of Iran following that country's failure to inform the IAEA of the scope and scale of its nuclear programme. Ireland, together with its EU partners, has called on Iran to enter into accelerated co-operation with the IAEA and provide full transparency to allow the agency to provide the necessary reassurances. On 12 September, the IAEA board of governors adopted a resolution without vote to this effect and called on Iran to ensure verification of compliance with its commitments by taking a proliferation concerns have also been expressed in respect of Iran following that country's failure to inform the IAEA of the scope and scale of its nuclear programme. Ireland, together with its EU partners, has called on Iran to enter into accelerated co-operation with the IAEA and provide full transparency to allow the agency to provide the necessary reassurances. On 12 September, the IAEA board of governors adopted a resolution without vote to this effect and called on Iran to ensure verification of compliance with its commitments by taking all necessary actions by the end of October 2003. Contacts between the IAEA and Iran are ongoing and the director general of the agency, Dr. Mohamed El Baradei, is expected to report to the board by the end of October on the situation.
At EU level, Ireland is participating actively in the elaboration of a comprehensive EU strategy on weapons of mass destruction, WMD, proliferation. The European Council in Thessaloniki adopted a declaration on this issue and agreed a set of basic principles. It is envisaged that an EU strategy to address the threat of WMD proliferation will be completed by the end of the year. Ireland places particular emphasis on the parts of the basic principles document which focus on strengthening multilateralism and the development of the role of the UN Security Council in relation to non-proliferation. We will work to ensure that the action plan being developed will promote the universalisation and reinforcement of the multilateral agreements in this area. We believe that the WMD strategy offers a valuable opportunity to give the EU a higher profile on this issue.
At the UN level, much of the practical work of devising general principles on disarmament takes place in the UN disarmament and international security committee commonly known as the first committee. The first committee meets during the UN General Assembly to deal with disarmament issues on the agenda of that session, and its consultations shape the tone of the disarmament debate. Ireland is an active participant in the first committee and uses all useful opportunities to ensure that the pursuit of disarmament and non-proliferation stays at the fore of the committee's deliberations and output. In 2002, Ireland, as co-ordinator of the New Agenda Coalition, NAC, introduced two resolutions on nuclear weapons, which were both adopted by the General Assembly. The resolutions,inter alia, called upon nuclear weapon states to implement their NPT commitments, to apply the principle of irreversibility by destroying their nuclear warheads in the context of strategic nuclear reductions and avoid keeping them in a state that lends itself to possible redeployment. The resolutions also called for concrete agreed measures to reduce the further operational status of non-strategic nuclear weapons systems.
As a founder member of the NAC, Ireland has made it clear that continual irreversible progress on nuclear arms reductions is a pre-requisite for promoting nuclear non-proliferation. The last NPT review conference in 2000 agreed to a final document which laid out concrete steps toward achieving the elimination of nuclear weapons. Ireland, with its New Agenda Coalition partners, was to the forefront of the negotiations leading to this agreement. We will continue to press for its full implementation in the process leading to the next NPT review conference in 2005.
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