John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

How can the Minister say this with such certainty when no checks have been carried out by the Garda Síochána or any authority in Shannon Airport to see if these planes are carrying prisoners to Guantanamo Bay? All the evidence we have accumulated seems to suggest this is the case. It seems the Government is once again adopting a hypocritical line of "see no evil, hear no evil" regarding the US. We know that 70% of US troops in Iraq have passed through Shannon Airport. The Minister does not accept that we are complicit in that war, but most Irish people believe we are hand in glove with the United States, and that this is the case in this regard. Did the Prime Minister of Denmark, which is a member of NATO, not make it clear to the CIA that its airspace, not to mention its airports, could not be used by the US for such activities?

The Minister said there have been media reports, which there most certainly have been. Has the UN been in contact with the Minister's Department as part of the ongoing investigation into renditions? If so, what has been the Minister's response?

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