Ireland has for some time called upon Israel to accede to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) without further delay and to place all of its nuclear facilities under comprehensive International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. We have repeatedly called for universality of the Treaty in national as well as EU statements, and also through our participation in the New Agenda Coalition. Ireland has also played an active role in promoting a Middle East free of all Weapons of Mass Destruction – nuclear, chemical and biological. We would see this as a priority objective, not just in terms of promoting longer term peace and stability in the region, but also in terms of protecting the NPT, with which Ireland is closely associated. The NPT is acknowledged as a cornerstone of the international non-proliferation regime and the essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament. In 1995, the Treaty was extended indefinitely in a package of agreements that also included a Resolution on the Middle East which envisages a zone free of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the region. It is important for the Treaty that the Middle East resolution is fully implemented.
At the 2010 NPT Review Conference Ireland brokered agreement on some practical next steps towards a Middle East zone free of Weapons of Mass Destruction, including a Conference to be attended by all States of the region. This agreement represented the first real progress towards implementing the 1995 Resolution in the fifteen years since it had been agreed, and Ireland’s role in this has been acknowledged.
Israel has never officially declared itself to possess nuclear weapons and maintains a policy of opacity about its nuclear capabilities. It remains one of just three states not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Deputy can be assured that Ireland will continue to call on it and the two other states not party to accede to the Treaty as non-nuclear weapons states without delay and to conclude a full scope safeguards agreement with the IAEA. The Deputy can also be assured that universal adherence to, and full implementation of, the NPT will remain key foreign policy objectives for the Government as we approach the next NPT Review Conference in 2015.
