Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this treaty as another step along with those taken in regard to nuclear and chemical weapons. It is important to acknowledge Ireland's contribution in this area. I welcome the fact that the Tánaiste outlined in his speech the imperfections of the treaty.

We have worked it out in theory and now we have it on paper, but the next issue is implementation and monitoring. I would like to hear more about how this area will be monitored. We know the illegal arms trade is extremely lucrative and while we read the proposals, we think about countries such as Syria and wonder whether the treaty will make any difference there. I was reading about Somalia yesterday and the positive moves being made there. What can the treaty achieve in terms of the governments and opposition in some countries who will use weapons against their civilian populations? Are there any provisions for the monitoring or implementation of that aspect of the treaty?