asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has under consideration any further visits to eastern European countries; and, if so, which countries.

I have no such visits under consideration at the present time.

Has the Minister been to the Soviet Union yet?

Not as a member of the Government. The next invitation will be repaying the visit to the Soviet Union by my predecessor. There is a protocol order in such matters and the next visit is due the other way.

Is the Minister considering paying such a visit?

Before I could consider going there the question of the Soviet Foreign Minister coming here is next on the agenda.

8.

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the principal topics which were under discussion during his recent meeting with the President of Roumania; if the meeting took place at his suggestion; and if any further meetings with him are under consideration.

The President of Roumania, Nicholae Ceausescu, accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Elena Ceausescu, together with the Deputy Prime Minister of Roumania, Mr. Gheorghe Oprea, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Stefan Andrei, made an informal visit to Shannon on 11 April en route to the United States where President Ceausescu was making an official visit. In notifying us of the stop-over at Shannon the Roumanian authorities indicated that the President would welcome this opportunity to have an exchange of views on bilateral and international issues of mutual interest.

The topics which I discussed with the President included the Middle East and the promotion of efforts towards a negotiated settlement there in which President Ceausescu has played a personal role, the general situation in Europe in the wake of the Belgrade meeting to review the implementation of the Helsinki Final Act, and the forthcoming United Nations Special Session on Disarmament. We also discussed economic developments in both Roumania and Ireland, Roumanian relations with the EEC and the development of our bilateral relations.

No further meetings with the President are under consideration at the moment. However, the President indicated that he would be happy to invite me to visit Roumania at some convenient time. I cannot say at the moment when this might be feasible.

Details of the visit are contained in a Press release issued on the occasion, copies of which I have placed in the Library.

While the President of Roumania adopts a very adventurous foreign policy he is not regarded in eastern Europe as the most liberal leader at home. Perhaps the Minister might take some time off from discussion of international issues with the President to talk about some freedom for the people of Roumania. I would ask the Minister to reconsider the wisdom of meeting statesmen at Shannon. It may be useful and it may save expense but it is not in accordance with the dignity of his office that he should accede to stop-over meetings with foreign statesmen at Shannon Airport.

That is a separate question.

This is a matter on which there will be many opinions. I think most of them would be against what the Deputy has suggested, particularly if the request comes from a head of government, as I have indicated in the answer.

The Minister will agree that there has been quite a number of meetings at Shannon Airport and I am only making the point in defence of his office. He has an important office in this country and if visiting statesmen going elsewhere wish to meet him they should arrange a schedule to meet the Minister in the capital city rather than for a few minutes at Shannon between catching planes.

I appreciate the Deputy's concern that the dignity of the office be upheld and I shall endeavour to ensure that it will be.

Will the Minister consider my suggestion if he meets the President of Roumania again?

I shall keep that in mind if there is any such request in the future.

9.

asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, as a result of his recent meetings with eastern European leaders, consideration is being given to establishing diplomatic relations with any of these countries, with a view to expanding our trade with them.

Presumably the Deputy has in mind my recent meetings with the Presidents of Yugoslavia and Roumania. The establishment of formal diplomatic relations is a matter which must be considered in the light of our international interests and the availability of the necessary resources. We have, of course, already exchanged diplomatic representatives with Yugoslavia on a non-residential basis. Although Ireland maintains normal relations with Roumania, it is one of the many countries with which we do not have formal diplomatic links. As the opening of diplomatic relations requires the prior agreement of the state concerned, it would be inappropriate and contrary to international practice to speculate publicly about the Government's possible future intentions.

Did the Minister say he was considering opening permanent diplomatic relations? I am aware that we have diplomatic relations with most of these countries, but are we thinking of opening permanent embassies in these places? I have in mind something I asked for in this House in the 1960s—the necessity, because of many historical affinities between the two countries, of opening a permanent embassy in Poland. I believe this should have preceded the opening of an embassy in the Soviet Union and I said so in this House nearly ten years ago. Has the Minister this matter under consideration?

The Deputy's question relates to establishing diplomatic relations which is not always on the basis of a permanent embassy. In any relations we have we want to ensure that we can reciprocate in the fullest possible way whatever is being done on the other side. Therefore, before we could agree to a residential embassy here we would want too ensure that we could match that on the other side in personnel and resources. There are other factors also that we consider in coming to such decisions.

The Soviet Union is the most important country there, but would the Minister not agree, both in historical terms and in view of the similarity of problems faced by this country and Poland, that the opening of permanent diplomatic relations and resident staffs on both sides should be considered as a high priority?

I want to assure the Deputy that we will continue to move towards strengthening and developing even closer ties. If that means residential embassies subject to appropriate conditions and times, that is what we will aim for. However, the Deputy will appreciate that with the extension of our diplomatic activity there is a limit on our resources and personnel. I am most anxious to ensure that whatever we do we do well and remain in control of the situation.