Written Answers Nos. 109-113
109. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the ongoing progress on EU enlargement; the extent to which the various applicant countries are progressing in their applications; if any specific issues or obstacles have arisen; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45524/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraIreland is a long-standing supporter of the enlargement process, which is generally seen as one of the most successful foreign policy initiatives of the European Union. For Ireland, it is important to work intensively to advance the accession process with the current candidates and potential candidates.
The European Council has granted Candidate Status to six countries including Turkey, Iceland, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia and Albania. In addition, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo are potential candidate countries.
Enlargement is a conditional process: prospective member states must achieve progress on reforms in order to move forward on their EU paths and each of these countries is at a different stage on its path towards membership of the European Union.
They face unique challenges which they must attempt to overcome in order to align with the acquis communautaire, the body of common rights and obligations that is binding on all EU Member States.
The European Commission published its annual Progress Reports on 8 October. These outline in detail the extent to which the candidate and potential candidate countries have advanced to fulfil the necessary conditions. These reports are being examined in detail by all Member States, including Ireland, at official level, prior to consideration next month at the General Affairs Council.
Turkey was granted Candidate status by the European Council in December 1999 and the European Council agreed to begin accession negotiations in December 2004. Fourteen out of thirty-five Chapters have been opened and are now under negotiation.
Montenegro began accession negotiations in June 2012 and twelve negotiating Chapters are now open, of which two have been provisionally closed.
The European Union began accession negotiations with Serbia on 21 January 2014, and since then, the screening process has been on-going. This process is designed to determine the extent of Serbian alignment with the acquis communautaire. A major focus of negotiations ahead will be on the normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo.
Association negotiations with Iceland remain suspended following a decision of the Icelandic Government in early 2013.
Macedonia was granted Candidate Status in 2005 but it has yet to open accession negotiations, pending a resolution of the name dispute with Greece.
Albania was granted Candidate Status in June 2014. Ireland supported this step as a signal of positive encouragement to the Albanian Government, and the region as a whole, to maintain reform momentum.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has not yet formally applied for EU membership and thus remains a potential candidate country. In recent years, Bosnia has been seeking to develop an EU coordination mechanism and to revise its complex power-sharing structures to facilitate the participation of minorities in political life.
Kosovo has continued negotiations with the European Commission on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), the first step on the EU accession path. The SAA was initialled in July and future steps will be further discussed early next year.
Ireland looks forward to working with each country in support of their respective paths to EU membership.
110. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the degree to which the European Union continues to support and monitor peaceful coexistence in the western Balkans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45525/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe European Union actively supports and monitors peaceful coexistence in the Western Balkans, and the perspective of EU membership is a key stabilising factor. Overcoming the legacy of recent conflicts in the region and promoting good neighbourly relations form an essential part of any candidate country’s progress along its EU path.
An assessment of the contribution to regional co-operation and participation in regional initiatives by each country is an integral part of the EU’s annual progress reports, which this year were published on 8 October.
There have been concrete examples of progress in enhancing good neighbourly relations in 2014 including in sensitive areas such as war crimes and police co-operation. In March, for example, a joint centre for police cooperation between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia was opened in Trebinje in Bosnia.
The floods which severely affected Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in May led to good co-operation across the region, between the two countries and to a strong EU response. Ireland contributed €220,000 in flood relief.
Other practical examples include an agreement on reducing the prices of roaming services on public mobile communications networks signed In September between the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.
Since March 2011, Serbia and Kosovo have participated in the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue. The aim of this dialogue is the normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo. Numerous rounds held between 2011 and 2012 led to the breakthrough ‘Brussels Agreement’ in April 2013, which covered a range of practical cross-border issues such as energy, telecoms and border management. Although the Dialogue has been on hold, due to elections in both countries, I hope that the new governments will continue implementing the agreements reached to date.
In addition, the EU actively supports the participation of countries in such regional fora as the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the Organisation for South-Eastern Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP). Co-operation also continues in other frameworks such as the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), the Energy Community and the Regional School of Public Administration.
111. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which the international community continues to make efforts to contain the outbreak of Ebola throughout the African continent; if any new outbreaks have been detected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45526/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa continues to present a huge challenge to the international community and the international response has been the subject of detailed discussions and briefings at meetings of the EU Foreign Affairs Council since the most recent outbreak, as well as a host of other international meetings and cross-departmental meetings in Ireland. It is clear that this outbreak has long-since outpaced the capacity of the governments of the most affected countries, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, to respond to it. We have an obligation to strengthen our collective response so that the necessary skilled personnel and medical facilities are funded, mobilised and deployed to West Africa to help deal with the crisis.
The spread of Ebola to Mali is a particularly worrying development. As of 20 November there have been 6 deaths there from Ebola. It is essential that the all of the countries of West Africa are supported in making adequate preparations to prevent the further spread of the virus. Containment is possible, as we have seen in both Senegal and Nigeria.
Ireland will continue to play its part in the international effort to counter the spread of the virus, through the work on the ground of our Embassy in Sierra Leone and our significant financial support. The EU and its Member States have now committed €1.1 billion to the Ebola response. This year, Ireland is providing over €17 million, directly and through NGOs, to the countries in West Africa most affected by the ongoing crisis. Some €10 million is being provided through our annual development programmes in our partner countries, Sierra Leone and Liberia, focused particularly on strengthening the national health systems. Ireland has provided funding of over €4 million in recent months specifically for Ebola treatment facilities in both Sierra Leone and Liberia, as well as for contact-tracing, community sensitisation and child nutrition programmes, among other activities.
In recent days, Minister of State Sherlock and I announced an additional grant of €221,000 for the supply of essential food and non-food items to families in Sierra Leone affected by local quarantine restrictions. There is a moral obligation on donors to meet funding pledges quickly and in full. It is only by tackling the Ebola virus in West Africa that we can ensure its spread will be arrested and lives saved.
112. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which the international community has succeeded in preventing the use of child soldiers in various conflict worldwide; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45527/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe recruitment and use of child soldiers continues to be a serious problem and a matter of grave concern to Ireland and the international community. Each year, the United Nations Secretary-General issues a report on children and armed conflict which lists all armed groups – both state and non-state – that recruit and use children. The most recent list, published in July of this year, includes 59 state and non-state armed groups operating across three continents.
In 1996, the UN General Assembly voted to establish the post of Special-Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict. In March of this year, the Special Representative and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched the “Children, Not Soldiers” campaign to end the recruitment and use of children by Government security forces in conflict by the end of 2016. The campaign is being implemented in close cooperation with the eight Governments listed in the Secretary General’s report for recruitment and use of children.
In 1999, the UN Security Council passed its first Resolution highlighting the impact of armed conflict on children and condemning violations carried out in that context. With the adoption of nine Resolutions and several Presidential statements since then, the Security Council has developed important tools to strengthen child protection and to promote compliance with international standards.
Ireland has engaged on this issue in various ways including through the core work of our aid programme in addressing poverty and under-development, which are major root causes of this problem. Ireland has also actively supported more targeted and specific interventions area from supporting agencies including UNICEF as well as the International Criminal Court. We have intervened on the issue at the UN and the Human Rights Council in 2014.
Ireland remains deeply committed to addressing the issue of child soldiers. Our approach is reflected in Ireland’s Policy for International Development, ‘One World, One Future’, where we pledge to increase our engagement on the issue of child soldiers and children in armed conflict.
113. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which new trading partners continue to be identified throughout the globe; the extent to which this continues to improve the position for Irish companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45528/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra115. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which in the course of the ongoing foreign policy review it is intended to have special regard for new trade opportunities; if consular or other diplomatic appointments are likely to remain a feature of the need for establishment of new markets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45530/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra116. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which the network of Irish embassies abroad has developed its capacity in promoting increased trade between Ireland and the various countries with which we have diplomatic representation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45532/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 113, 115 and 116 together.
Advancing Ireland's trade, tourism, education and investment objectives, and economic diplomacy more generally, is an important aspect of Ireland’s foreign policy and of the work of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and its Embassy network.
My Department has responsibility for the Export Trade Council, which I chair, and which oversees implementation of the Government Trade, Tourism and Investment Strategy in co-operation with all relevant Government Departments and State Agencies. This co-operation at home is underpinned by the Local Market Teams, which are chaired by our Ambassadors in priority markets abroad.
In the review of the Government Trade, Tourism and Investment Strategy, published earlier this year, seven additional high potential and exploratory markets were identified to increase our engagement with high growth markets in Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Building on this review, new Embassies have been opened in Bangkok (Thailand), Jakarta (Indonesia), Nairobi (Kenya) and Zagreb (Croatia), alongside the reopening of Ireland’s Embassy to the Holy See. Consulates-General have also been opened in Hong Kong (China), and Austin (Texas, USA) and a Consulate-General will be opened in Sao Paulo (Brazil) in the coming months. These new Embassies and Consulates will strengthen Ireland’s capacity to take advantage of emerging opportunities in these important markets, and will complement the existing trade promotion work of our Embassy network.
The contribution which economic diplomacy and the work of the Embassy network is making to the Government's objectives of job creation and growth has been an important theme in the preparation of the review of Ireland’s foreign policy, which is being undertaken in my Department. I expect to bring the outcome of this review to Government for consideration shortly.
