PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRIME MINISTER OF IRELAND

PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRIME MINISTER OF IRELAND

Ireland was committing itself to reaching the United Nations target of contributing 0.7 per cent of its gross national income to official development assistance (ODA) by 2012, which meant the country would be spending about 8 billion euros on aid between now and then, Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

All of Ireland’s assistance would remain untied and would not be linked to any purchase of Irish goods or services, said the Prime Minister, who was accompanied by Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern and Development Minister Conor Lenihan.  There would be four new initiatives aimed at effective use of the new ODA, including a doubling of spending on HIV/AIDS next year to 100 million euros annually; strengthening capacity to respond to humanitarian emergencies, with a particular focus on famine and hunger; supporting the new United Nations Democracy Fund; and working with the Irish industry to develop the private sector in African partner countries.

Regarding the negotiations on reform, he welcomed the agreement reached, saying, “The outcome vindicates Kofi Annan’s approach.  We owe him an enormous debt of gratitude, first, for having the necessary vision and then for generating momentum necessary to get Member States on board.  And great credit is also due to the President of the General Assembly.”

However, he expressed particular regret that the document contained nothing on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.  Ireland was determined to continue pressing that issue.

Asked what further action might be taken on disarmament, Foreign Minister Ahern said that as the first signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the issue held particular resonance for Ireland.  “It was called the Irish Treaty when it was first put to together.  We very much echo what Kofi Annan said. We were very disappointed that there was no agreement on anything positive with it [the NPT].”  Ireland had offered whatever assistance it could to overcome the difficulties, he added.

Responding to a question as to whether the Secretary-General had set the bar too high in terms of expectations for the Summit, the Prime Minister answered, “If he didn’t challenge everybody to move from positions, you probably wouldn’t even have got what was agreed yesterday.  On the other side of it, we didn’t get, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, but at least, you highlight the differences.  Intensive lobbying went on.  If Kofi had gone for more miniscule reforms early on, people wouldn’t have been dragged out of their little holes to state positions.”

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For information media • not an official record