Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)

I am pleased to have an opportunity to say a few words on the Bill. I am surprised that this legislation which the Government describes as technical has taken so long to reach the House.

This Bill gives effect to the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation 1988 and the protocol to that Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Fixed Platforms on the Continental Shelf 1988. Sixteen years has elapsed between the signing of those conventions and the taking of this legislation. That is an unusually long time. I am worried that it takes so long for supposedly unimportant Bills to come before the House. That is not progressive and this issue needs to be addressed.

The overwhelming impression is that the Government is, yet again, responding to events in New York in September 2001 and in Madrid in March 2004 rather than providing a coherent defence strategy based on intelligence, fact and the needs of the people. The people are vulnerable and they feel the need to enjoy security. We have come a long way in recent years but it is difficult to explain the fear experienced by people as they go about their lives on a daily basis when they do not enjoy security.

The convention and protocol are among a suite of international instruments against terrorism which member states of the United Nations are enjoined by Security Council Resolution 1373 of 28 September 2001 to implement as soon as possible. The terms of the convention and protocol must be approved by the Dáil pursuant to Article 29.5.2° of the Constitution and the Bill must be enacted before Ireland can be a party to them.

Fine Gael supports this legislation. I agree with Deputy Kehoe who last week stated:

Fine Gael fully supports this Bill and believes these measures are long overdue. It is important that this Bill is being brought forward as Ireland holds the Presidency of the European Union and cannot be seen to be lagging behind its neighbours when it is supposed to be leading them.

Fine Gael abhors the way in which the issue of Ireland's security has been dealt with up to now. Fine Gael advocates an EU defence entity based on five key principles in which Ireland takes a full and active role in terms of its development. The first is adherence to the fundamental principles of the UN. That is important because history will teach us that Ireland should support the UN. The second principle is a commitment to the vigorous pursuit of the goal of universal nuclear and biological disarmament and to a solemn undertaking by the EU defence entity not to use either weapon. People living along the east coast live in fear on a daily basis because of the threat posed by Sellafield. What a pity something more genuine has not been done on their behalf.

The third principle is a commitment to mutual defence and support with specific opt-in provisions for individual states. The fourth is a commitment to the provision of peacekeeping and peacemaking operations and to the Petersberg Tasks, such as humanitarian aid, search and rescue etc. A significant number of people around the world are starving. Ireland has expanded rapidly and its wealth has increased. We regularly read media reports about people starving throughout the world. However, Ireland has not addressed the issue of humanitarian aid properly. We are descendants of people who gave a great deal to the Third World. Members of religious orders from previous generations travelled all over the world and made their mark. Our generation leaves a great deal to be desired when it comes to humanitarian aid.

The fifth principle is respect for the right of member states to be involved in other military alliances. Our policies are based on the belief that if Ireland does not contribute to the debate on a common EU security and defence policy we cannot complain when a policy is unveiled that addresses the concerns and aspirations of other states, not ours. This is used as a political football by the Government, which wraps itself in the green flag of neutrality at every opportunity, yet caves in on the international stage every time.

I refer to the Iraqi conflict. My party leader, Deputy Kenny, last year condemned in the House the war in Iraq because of its lack of international legitimacy and pointed out that without such legitimacy a lasting peace might never be found. How right he was. Iraq has slid into chaos and the images from Baghdad and elsewhere become even more shocking, yet the Government has said nothing. There has not been a word from the Taoiseach or a Minister in condemnation of the atrocities that the Government parties did so much to support.

All of us have seen the deplorable pictures from Iraq which have been published in newspapers in recent weeks. The country is in a sad state. The Government had better learn that to pass security legislation is one thing but to act in the interest of Irish and international security is another. The Bill is important but it is overdue. It makes a joke of our national Parliament that the legislators have been completely bypassed on the issue of the war on terror.

Fine Gael has repeatedly called for the creation of a European coast guard and this issue is pertinent to the debate. Today serious crimes such as drug trafficking and people smuggling are well organised, with the perpetrators using high levels of technology and frequently relying on the disjointedness of national police forces and coast guard services to slip through the net. The amount of drugs entering the country is one of the greatest problems it faces. We read about major drug hauls on a weekly basis in national newspapers.

Last night I met people in a little village in my constituency, which has a population of a few hundred. The village Garda station used to be staffed by two officers but now it has only one garda on a part-time basis. He travels to the station one or two days a week. No gardaí are present in the village at weekends to monitor the trouble caused by young people as they leave local hostelries late at night. Elderly people in that community live in fear and they do not know where the drugs the young people take are coming from.

Like the Minister of State, I represent a rural constituency. The drugs issue is a source of great fear in rural Ireland. No issue is being neglected as much as this. Something desperate needs to be done to tackle this problem, which is causing mayhem in our towns and villages. The Government and the Parliament should be ashamed that nothing is being done about this issue. Families are being hurt throughout the State. I call on the Government, particularly the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, to tackle this problem, which is affecting the hearts and minds of people in rural Ireland.

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