As I made clear in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 143 of 22 February 2006, Ireland's support for the concept of an arms trade treaty is unqualified. The process of negotiating such a treaty is, however, likely to be lengthy and complex and it is not at this stage possible to forecast when or in what form a final text might emerge.
The General Affairs and External Relations Council of the European Union, at its meeting on 3 October 2005, acknowledged the growing support throughout the world for an international treaty to establish common standards for the global trade in conventional arms. The council also agreed that binding standards, consistent with the existing responsibilities of states under relevant international law, would be critical in tackling proliferation. It was further agreed that the United Nations was the only forum that could deliver a truly universal instrument, and the council called for the start of a formal process at the UN at the earliest opportunity. At a small arms conference in New York last January, the Austrian Presidency, on behalf of all EU member states, confirmed the European Union's support for an arms trade treaty.
In summary, Ireland fully and strongly supports the negotiation of an arms trade treaty and we will continue to participate actively within the UN and at other international fora both to try to advance this objective and, more generally, to promote the objective of strengthening arms controls globally.
