Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Sinn Féin supports this motion. I believe all Deputies with a conscience will vote in favour of it and against the Government amendment. Sinn Féin actively pursued this issue since it was first brought to light by human rights NGOs and concerned individuals monitoring flight patterns.

I brought a book of evidence to the Garda Síochána earlier this year and held a meeting with two members of the force to discuss what could be done by them to stop Irish complicity in the US illegal rendition programme. The outcome of that meeting was very disappointing. It became clear that an unsatisfactory catch-22 situation exists. The gardaí said they need the very evidence that they might find on the aeroplanes to get permission to search them in the first place. This grave shortcoming is recognised by the motion.

However, I would go even further. At this stage and in recognition of the fact that the US assurances have now been proved untrustworthy by the incident in which a prisoner, albeit a US marine, was spotted in chains on an airplane in Shannon Airport without the required prior notice being given to the Irish authorities, we should simply refuse the use of Irish airports and airspace to every and any flight associated with the US military or the CIA. After all, we are purportedly a neutral country.

Extraordinary rendition is just one part of Bush's self-styled, so-called war on terror. The facilitation of this illegal war compromises our neutrality, which requires that belligerents not move munitions of war across the territory of a neutral state. We must also ask what else we are involved in through Shannon Airport. Documentation that has come into my possession shows that not only is Shannon Airport being used as a pit stop for US troops on their way to and from their war in Iraq and that it has been used by aeroplanes involved in the illegal extraordinary renditions programme but also that it facilitates the sale and transfer of arms to human rights abusers throughout the world.

The arms embargo on the Indonesian Government, for example, and other arms embargoes have been breached. In September last year, at least six months before the lifting of the embargo on Indonesia, the Office of Antiterrorism Assistance in the United States State Department ferried ammunition, explosives and arms through Shannon Airport, via Canada, and onwards on a chartered military transporter to a Bulgarian airport used by the military. From there it was flown to the US Embassy in Indonesia. This was supposed to be for an anti-terrorism training course for a government whose human rights violations, according to Amnesty International, remain a serious concern.

According to Amnesty International's report, this year in Papua cases of torture and arbitrary detention were reported and across the country the police use excessive force against demonstrators. Ill-treatment in detention facilities and police lock-ups was widespread. At least two people were executed by firing squad and at least ten people were sentenced to death. According to a large number of human rights NGOs, the Indonesian military remains unreformed, wielding tremendous political power and terrorising the very people it is supposed to protect.

Other flights involving the same airplane during September and October last year, for which I do not have complete details, suggest that this is regular traffic with 2,600 kg of dangerous goods going back and forth from Canada, via Shannon to Bulgaria. The exact origin and final destinations of these flights cannot be confirmed at this stage. They occurred on 15, 17, 21 and 28 October. On 3 September another one of these flights had an undisclosed content of three boxes weighing 6,985 kg. On 8 October, M16 rifles were ferried through the airport. Sikorsky helicopters were also ferried through Shannon Airport to another human rights abuser, Turkey, on 30 October. This is in addition to details which emerged of Shannon Airport being used to facilitate the sale of Apache attack aircraft to Israel from the United States last February.

Will the Minister clarify whether the Government and the Ministers for Transport and Foreign Affairs are aware of the details I have disclosed? Did the Department of Transport give the required authorisation for the activities I have outlined? Did the Department of Foreign Affairs, upon consultation as required under the 1973 order, approve the use of Shannon Airport for those activities? Does the Minister agree that the role played by this State in the sale and transfer of arms to human rights abusers is absolutely unacceptable and must cease immediately? What steps will he take to ensure that this affront to Irish neutrality is brought to an immediate end?

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