Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The committee is considering petition No. P00072/12 from Dr. Edward Horgan and others in relation to landings at Shannon Airport. I ask members, delegates and those in the Visitors Gallery to ensure their mobile phones are switched off or left in safe or flight mode as they interfere with the broadcasting system, even in silent mode.
I welcome Dr. Edward Horgan, Ms Margaretta D'Arcy and Mr. John Lannon and thank them for forwarding to the committee a copy of their presentation which has been circulated to members. By virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the committee. However, if they are directed by it to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person or an entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable.
Before inviting Dr. Horgan to make his opening remarks, I draw attention to the fact that today the Seanad Public Consultation Committee published a report entitled, Report on Ireland's Compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights with Observations and Recommendations to the United Nations Human Rights Committee and to the Irish Government. Of particular interest are the following comments made on page 6 on extraordinary rendition:

The Committee takes note of continued calls for the establishment of an independent, effective and comprehensive investigation concerning the use of the State party’s territory for the purposes of extraordinary rendition. The SPCC further recognises the outstanding need for an oversight mechanism to ensure that Ireland’s territory may not be used for any such purpose in the future. Specifically, the Committee notes the potential for a Parliamentary Committee to undertake this role in the future.
The Committee strongly recommends that the Human Rights Committee pursue this issue with Government in its upcoming review and suggest specific measures that should be taken to ensure effective oversight of the use of the State’s territory and airspace in order to ensure compliance with Ireland’s obligations under the ICCPR.

The delegates may want to obtain a copy of the report. I am sure members are already aware of it. I invite Dr. Horgan to make his opening statement on behalf of Shannonwatch.