Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

No one would want anything to happen that would subsequently be termed a mistake. My dealings with Ms Condoleezza Rice were categoric on the use of Ireland's airspace or otherwise for rendition purposes. We were given clear assurances at that meeting and at the US Embassy in Dublin and our embassy in Washington. On each occasion, we raised all the reports to which the Deputies have referred today. We raised them even before they were raised in this House. We were given assurances that Ireland was not used in any way in the facilitation of rendition. Ultimately, the only people who can enforce the law in this land are the gardaí. That is the way matters are dealt with in any democratic country.

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