The Government says it is prepared to negotiate a long term agreement with the government of Belarus in a bid to lift the travel ban on children affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
Speaking after a meeting with Adi Roche of the Chernobyl Children's Project, Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin says the first step will be to ensure that Ireland is exempted from the ban so that some 100 children can travel this Christmas.
Ms Roche - who had earlier described the situation as critical - said she was thrilled with the Government's commitment to these children and says the hope is that the exemption is in place from the end of this week.
The Irish Ambassador to Russia, Justin Harmon, is travelling to Minzk tomorrow to open discussions on a formal agreement.
Ireland's ambassador to Belarus has been asked to travel to its capital, Minsk, tomorrow to discuss a travel ban on children affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
Mr Martin said he has asked the ambassador to express Ireland's satisfaction with the traditional, long-standing co-operation with Belarus on the children's visits here.
He said he was happy to begin discussions on formal arrangements for the 1,000 children who come to Ireland each year for a holiday and for appointments with medical specialists.
He expressed his confidence that the situation would be resolved speedily and satisfactorily.
The London based representative of the Belarus government has also been invited to Dublin for talks later this week.
Belarus sought a bilateral agreement on the issue over a year ago but the Government has so far failed to sign one.
The agreement would formalise the legal basis for the visits and set out how they are to be supervised in future.
