Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to address the House on the issue of extraordinary rendition, not only as a member of the Fianna Fáil Party but also as a friend of America. I have listened, as always, to Deputy Michael D. Higgins's very unique and positive analysis. However, proportionality must apply in this case.

Ironically, given the benefits that have accrued to Ireland through the extraordinary range of ties that bond our two countries, there is a small but vocal anti-American body in this country, and in extraordinary rendition, it has found a subject with sufficient resonance to amplify its minority point of view. I am delighted to have the chance to challenge this unwarranted manipulation of the extraordinary rendition debate and to reaffirm the quality of the relationship between our two countries.

Extraordinary rendition is an issue on which the Government has taken a great deal of unwarranted flak, largely I suspect at the hands of people who are determined to look more at rumours than at facts. In the matter of extraordinary rendition, having received assurances, as the Minister has, of unsurpassed quality obtained early on from the US authorities and confirmed by the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, the Government is in an extraordinarily strong position, especially in the European context. Are we to ignore these on the basis of a series of unsubstantiated allegations? I believe we cannot do that, for actions are not without consequences.

The Government is in a unique position in Europe, having received specific unqualified bilateral assurances on extraordinary rendition confirmed by the Secretary of State. For the Government to discard those assurances would send a very curious message to the US Administration, and not just to it alone. Across the Atlantic, Ireland is viewed — as those of us who have had the opportunity to travel there on delegations will be aware — with a degree of affection that few, if any, countries can claim to enjoy. There are close cultural, economic and family bonds between people all across the US and Ireland, North and South. Not having to deal with consequences is a luxury that can be enjoyed by those who do not govern.

I thought that the wholehearted welcome given by the Peace and Neutrality Alliance, PANA, which was in the news last week, that one of the carriers which transports the troops through Shannon is to relocate its European transit point to Leipzig is typical of what an organisation such as PANA wants. It wants to have it both ways. This development will hardly be welcomed by the people in the Shannon region, so many of whom depend on the well-being of Shannon Airport for their livelihood. Are we to turn our back on our many ties with America, heedless of the consequences, on the basis of sweeping generalisations that do not apply in the Irish case? Surely not.

The sequence of events described by the Minister for Foreign Affairs only goes to reveal the seriousness with which both Governments treat the assurances concerned. The Government's prompt reaction shows its willingness to react to development in the area. The fact remains, however, that the error which caused the routing of a convicted member of the US military through Ireland in no way undermines or otherwise affects the US authority's clearly stated assurances in the wholly separate area of extraordinary rendition. The Government has been careful in its dealings with the US Government to ensure that Ireland has not been used for extraordinary rendition flights and equally to register its complete opposition to the practice.

The US authorities have accommodated Ireland's concerns in a way they have not accommodated those from many other European partners, some of whom are not just friends but allies. For us then to discard as worthless the efforts to which the US authorities have gone to appease a vocal minority seeking to advance an anti-American agenda would be irresponsibility of the highest degree. I urge Members in the strongest terms to register approval of the Government's policy in this area by supporting the proposed amendment.

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