Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I understand that and hopefully the Minister will also be able to share with us the advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In some ways, there is a gentleman's agreement involving assurances from America, Russia or elsewhere. However, the fact that the Minister ended up having to refuse 19 flights means that they were chancing their arm somewhat.

If a gentleman's agreement exists concerning our air space, it is not always complied with on flights that do not necessarily land in Shannon or elsewhere. From tracking back through the whole history of the Iraq war, and before, we know that our air space was violated in that way. In addition, our territorial waters were violated by British submarines to the detriment of some people's boats. So much for assurances but they do not always stand up. People might remember Colonel Oliver North who abused the system, as did the Israelis, by using Irish passports.

How can such assurances stack up if they were blatantly breached? The Minister said that if there was evidence, it should be produced. In order to get evidence, however, one must search something. That was always the contradiction because if we do not have the power to search them, who will do it?

There is one group that has highlighted evidence that Irish air space and Shannon Airport were used for rendition flights. Amnesty International has stated that detainees specifically said they passed through Irish airports. Has that claim been fully investigated by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport?