Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

Since I first tabled this question, circumstances have changed. As recently as today, the Guardian newspaper carried details of last year's report of the CIA's inspector general. That report suggests that interrogation techniques authorised by the Bush presidency breach commitments given under the UN Convention against Torture. The Minister should regard that as a matter of concern.

Various international sources have verified that a plane, on lease to the US State Department and the CIA, has landed in Shannon on up to 80 occasions. The Minister has relied on assurances from the United States of America, but the UN Committee against Torture regards a simple assurance as insufficient. In the case of Sweden, admittedly, the circumstances were different because an individual was apprehended and removed, but a simple assurance was insufficient.

A debate is currently taking place in the Danish Parliament arising from the fact that the government there has refused permission to use Danish airspace to the same plane that is landing in Shannon. Despite that prohibition, however, the plane has continued to land in Denmark.

Would the Minister agree that compliance with the two European conventions and the UN Convention against Torture requires random or regular checks to be made on planes that are possibly being used for what is called "extraordinary rendition"? This is a serious matter and the ECHR aspect is being raised at the level of the European Commission. Questions are also being asked by the UN Committee against Torture. A simple assurance, such as that referred to by the Minister, is surely no longer satisfactory.

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