Arising from the Minister's reply, have the Twelve adopted any attitude to Mr. Edouard Shevardnadze's initiative now in train to establish an international conference under UN auspices? Have approaches been made to the Twelve to deal with this matter under the EPC or, alternatively, has the Russian ambassador here or the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs contacted the Government with a view to securing support for the initiative underway?

The most forward initiative that has been taken by the Community is that it has established a Troika of Foreign Ministers which includes the Foreign Ministers from Spain, which holds the Presidency at present, Greece, the previous holder of the office of Presidency, and France, the next country to hold the office of Presidency. The three Foreign Ministers are now engaged in regular, almost daily, exchanges with all the countries in the Middle East. Apart from the countries directly involved, they have regular exchanges with the countries indirectly involved, and Israel, the United States and the Soviet Union. The Troika, representing the Community, is recognised as what one might call the honest broker in the situation seeking to achieve the international conference I have mentioned, that Israel and the PLO and all the other parties who should be at the conference are present, and that the Agenda proceeds on a mutual basis or recognition of Israel's right to her borders and the Palestinians right to a defined homeland that can be translated into a State which will get international recognition.

What borders?

The Minister for Foreign Affairs in his reply did not give any indication of support for the Russian initiative, which was the question I was asking.

The Russian initiative is subsumed by the EC initiative. The point I was making is that it is the Community initiative that is the important one in this respect.

The Russians have been towed away.

The Russians are aware of this. They are not honest brokers in the middle; they have a point of view to put. The Community through the EPC process has discussed this matter on numerous occasions over the past six months; I have been there and have taken an active part in the discussions and I am conveying direct to the Dáil what has happened. The Community Troika — and Ireland will be represented on it during the second half of this year — is the acknowledged player/broker in seeking to achieve the international conference. They are in touch with Soviet Union, with Mr. Shevardnadze, the American Government and all other countries closer to the scene.

What role have the United Nations in this?

The United Nations will eventually convene the conference. We have a certian order established and I thought I put it plainly. The Community will seek by these talks to reach a stage where an international conference can be held. At that stage it will be held under the auspices of the United Nations but in these early stages of very delicate and sensitive negotiations the United Nations as such are not directly involved although, of course, they are indirectly involved to a major extent and they will convene the conference ultimately.

The UN have a huge role to play.

Order.

Will the Minister indicate what response he has made to Dr. Makhlouf's anxiety, which he expressed to the Deputies in this House when he met them some days ago, that the impetus in seeking the interntional conference may be lost unless there are early moves towards convening such a conference? He was concerned that the very generous steps which the Palestine National Council have taken to move forward may be lost if some pressure is not exerted on those States that are blocking progress at present.

I assured Dr. Makhlouf, and he accepts it, that we were concerned about the early calling of a conference. This is important, but you must have all the players in place before you have the conference. Dr. Makhlouf expressed very deep regard for and emphasised the fact that the EC had taken on the role of broker. Indeed, I met Dr. Makhlouf two weeks ago and a week ago the Troika was taking action along the lines I had mentioned to him. Over the past week they have been in Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and they reported back to us yesterday in Brussels. This work is going on all the time. Naturally Dr. Makhlouf is anxious, and I respect him for that, to secure a conference as soon as possible. I share that view, and I hope the American Government above all is equally seized of the importance of just that. I am hopeful that the new American Administration will adopt a more forward-looking attitude because they have great influence in this area, in particular vis-á-vis Israel. I believe that this U.S. Administration will be far more forward-looking in its approach.

The recent statement was helpful in that regard.

It was very helpful.

Arising from the Minister's very long complete reply as to the nature of the Troika's operations, can I take it that the Troika has been delegated the authority by the EPC process or is it merely a functional group?

No, it is a delegated process by the EPC and it is used in occasions like this to act as an honest broker. It is not the first time this process has been used. The Troika comprises of the Foreign Ministers from the sitting Presidency, the previous holder, and the next holder. In this case it is Greece, Spain and France that are involved and from 1 July onwards Spain, France and ourselves will be involved.