Dr. Edward Burke:

I thank Senator Clonan very much. We will not exchange too many scholarly compliments but it is a pleasure to be here and I thank him for his questions. On the question of whether I trust the community of decision-makers and experts, broadly, in terms of our Constitution, legal system, Departments and the Attorney General, I do trust our democratic system to oversee this aspect. I do want to see a stronger Department of Defence. In terms of alternative safeguards, I would like to see a committee like this one having more powers, in the way the parliaments of other EU member states have, to push for accountability on defence. I think it would be wonderful if we could revisit the committee powers for the Oireachtas. The referendum was a difficult time but it is something that would be very healthy. Strengthening the Oireachtas is something I am particularly in favour of when it comes to national security. I think it is very important.

Things are made better by people, like the Deputies and Senators on this committee, asking the pertinent questions and sometimes demanding answers if necessary and getting them. Like Mr. Power, I have faith in that.

When it comes to UN Security Council resolutions, I talked a bit about UN Resolution 1511 and the multinational force in Iraq in 2003. Norway, which is a NATO member state, looked at that resolution and said there were serious problems with it. Despite it being a UN-mandated mission, Norway did not want to send a serious contingent there because there were a lot of problems with the rules of engagements. It also had concerns about LOAC and international humanitarian law. Norway did not do it for those reasons. That was the right decision by Oslo. We are also capable of making those decisions in a similar way, taking legal advice and looking at the situation. We are well equipped to do that, particularly with the Oireachtas keeping a close eye on our legal obligations. I will leave it there because I am conscious of time.