Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 February 2006
132 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reforms of the UN Security Council deemed necessary by the Government; and the steps he has taken and intends to take to identify the necessary reforms and to promote these at the UN level in view of the UN General Assembly 2005 world summit outcome. [6961/06]
Amharc ar fhreagraAt the UN 2005 World Summit, world leaders reaffirmed the primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security. Despite the absence of agreement on reform of the Security Council in the run up to the summit, they unanimously supported its early reform and asked the General Assembly to review progress by the end of 2005.
On 10-11 November 2005, a debate in the General Assembly reconfirmed widespread agreement both that there is a need to expand the Security Council with a view to making it more broadly representative and that enlargement of the council's membership should contribute to its efficiency and effectiveness. However, the debate also showed that views remain divergent, inter alia, as to the size of the council and the categories of its expanded membership.
It is clear that none of the models so far proposed for reform of the Security Council commands sufficient support to secure adoption by the necessary two thirds majority of the members of the General Assembly. It is also clear that there are divergent views among the permanent members of the Security Council, each of whom must ratify under its national procedures any change to the UN Charter adopted by the General Assembly.
Some members of the General Assembly, moreover, do not regard it as sufficient to adopt a reform of the Security Council by means of the two thirds majority required under the UN Charter. They maintain that the legitimacy of, and universal respect for, any reform measure requires a much broader degree of consensus.
The President of the General Assembly has reiterated his belief that discussions on Security Council reform should resume in 2006 and has reiterated his availability for consultations with member states, as well as his intention to convene a further meeting on the issue.
In common with many colleagues, my own address to the General Assembly last September drew attention to the wide acknowledgement of the need to align the Security Council with today's realities, and noted that this remained an important piece of unfinished business. In a speech to mark the 50th anniversary of Ireland's UN membership on 18 November, I stated that Ireland will approach future work on its reform on the basis of a number of key principles: the Security Council should be increased in size to reflect the realities of the 21st century; increase should be regionally balanced, including enhancing the role of Africa; any change should not lessen the capacity of smaller member states like Ireland to continue to aspire to membership from time to time; while we would ideally wish to see the complete removal of the veto, there should be no conferral of new veto powers; and an expanded Security Council should accommodate member states that play a particularly significant role in the UN system, for instance, financially, in peacekeeping or through their capacity for regional leadership. I and other members of the Government will continue to draw on these principles in contacts with representatives of other states, bilaterally and at the UN.
