Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 40, 45, 48, 53, 56, 82, 85, 90, 110, 114, 210 and 221 together.

The Government is completely opposed to the practice of so-called extraordinary rendition, whereby prisoners are transported from one jurisdiction to another contrary to international law and without recourse to the normal judicial checks and balances that attend the legitimate transfer of prisoners. That such a practice might have the aim of delivering a prisoner to a jurisdiction in which he or she might be tortured or otherwise ill-treated is particularly disturbing and objectionable.

The Government has not permitted, and we cannot and will not permit, any flight engaged in so-called "extraordinary rendition" to pass through an Irish airport or through Irish or Irish-controlled airspace.

As Deputies will be aware from my replies to previous questions on this subject, most recently to Priority Questions today, the United States has given Ireland repeated, clear and explicit assurances that no prisoners have been transferred through Irish airports, nor would they be, without our permission. These assurances were confirmed by Secretary of State Rice at my meeting with her on 1 December 2005 in Washington. There have been suggestions that these may be qualified in some way by the definition of torture that is applied by the US Government. I would like to set the record straight on this matter. The assurances we have received contained no reference to the purposes for which any prisoners might be transferred which could be used to limit the broad scope of those assurances. In the wider European context the assurances Ireland has received consistently from the US authorities are of particular clarity and completeness.

I have no reason to believe Irish airports have been used in the manner described by the Deputies. None of the allegations made about the passage through Irish airports of aeroplanes supposedly involved in extraordinary rendition has included any concrete or specific claim of this type.

In the light of the absolute assurances we have received, the Government will continue to follow the long-standing practice whereby details supplied to the Department of Foreign Affairs in this area by the US authorities are accepted in good faith as being accurate. I would add that should it ever emerge that, contrary to our firm belief, our airports or airspace have been used for the purpose of extraordinary rendition, the Government would take the gravest possible view of the matter.

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