Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

Has the Government received similar advice to that given to the UK Government by its senior scientific adviser who said that climate change is more of a threat than international terrorism and needs to be considered as such? Deputy Joe Higgins raised that issue in his initial contribution. Will the Taoiseach indicate whether he believes that the high level group on terrorism is sufficiently well informed to do its job? The media has reported that Israeli secret service agents were caught at the weekend in the act of planning to assassinate a Palestinian member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in Dublin. Is such information known to the high level group or does it learn about it in the Evening Herald like the rest of us?

Will the Taoiseach revise the Government's view to help the high level group to do its job? When ships like the HMS Illustrious, which carried nuclear weapons in the 1990s, are docked in Dublin Port, does the Government ensure that the group is allowed to instruct that searches of the ship can take place? I do not mean that it should be simply given a passing assurance that no nuclear weapons are on board. What is the policy of the Government in this regard? How well informed is the high level group, which needs to be taken seriously if it is to do its job properly? Similar questions can be asked about the Gulfstream jet and the Boeing 737 at Shannon Airport which were referred to earlier. Can such airplanes be searched? Does the Government accept the assurances of the American authorities——

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