Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment and look forward to engaging positively with him in the years ahead. The Labour Party broadly welcomes the introduction of the Control of Exports Bill 2007. Deputy Michael D. Higgins, the president of my party and its spokesperson on foreign affairs, and our colleague, Proinsias De Rossa, MEP, have been long-term advocates of imposing export controls on military goods and have expressed disappointment at the Government's tardy response on this vital issue. Deputy Michael D. Higgins will discuss in detail the ethical considerations arising from this legislation. However, export controls reflect an important aspect of the philosophy and ethical approach of the Labour Party. Ethical and moral considerations must be brought to bear in determining how exports are evaluated, particularly in the context of their end use and destination. It is important, therefore, that products are tracked. This requires rigid investigation, control and monitoring, areas in which the legislation is clearly weak.

While the Labour Party welcomes the broad thrust of the Bill as a step in the right direction, we reserve the right to table appropriate amendments. We will seek specifically to amend section 3(2)(b) to clarify the term "citizenship" in light of differences in the meaning of terms such as "residency", "domicile" and "citizenship". These nuances may appear whimsical to outside observers but they are vital in ensuring the legislation is effective and rigorously implemented.

As the Minister of State noted, we are in the midst of rapid geopolitical and technological developments across the world. Many of the old shibboleths have been excised. The weapons trade is seriously undermining development across the world and there is some evidence that traffickers in this trade considered Ireland to be a base they could use with impunity. It is, therefore, long past time that positive action was taken in this regard. The Bill has been several years in gestation and has been introduced not before time. My colleagues have been to the fore in applying pressure to have it introduced.

The purpose of the legislation is to provide for the control of the exportation of goods and technology and the provision of brokering activities and technical assistance. As the Minister of State outlined, this is to be achieved by means of regulations. The Bill also provides for the control of technical assistance related to certain military end-users and arms brokering as provided for by the Council of the European Union in a Common Position set out on 23 June 2003.

The competitive global economy affords us opportunities to gain access to markets across the world on an equal footing. This has arisen as a result of the dismantling of trade barriers to permit the free movement of capital, goods and services and people to the extent that they are not subject to certain exemptions, regulations, controls and limitations, most of which are tied to national security interests, health factors and other grounds permitted under the articles of the European treaties. However, we cannot allow untrammelled or uncontrolled free trade in every area of activity as to do so would render as nought Ireland's status as a neutral country. We must be extremely careful and while we must promote economy activity and the generation of employment, this must not be done at the expense of moral and ethical considerations. Unregulated trade in military goods, hardware and other such products, particularly in light of the implications of the advent of e-technology, would create a moral dilemma regarding products with both civil and military applications.

For many years, the Labour Party has held to its fundamental commitment to the control of arms and global disarmament, which is essential in the context of world peace and stability and reflects our strong neutral ethos. Neutrality must mean something and not just be a word thrown out to suit particular times.

Until the advent of the Bill, Ireland's arms control systems lagged behind those of major arms exporters. The Government, which promised legislation, was warned by my colleagues Deputy Higgins and Proinsias De Rossa, MEP about the incentive for arms brokers elsewhere to move here in the absence of legislation. The Government may not believe such moves occurred. Judging by the Seanad debate, to which Deputy Varadkar referred, there is no arms trade in Ireland. The factual position is different. The Government-commissioned 2004 Forfás report on arms control systems identified several gaps in our laws, in particular those addressing arms brokers. Successive Amnesty International reports have reached the same conclusions.

The need for a new legislative framework for the monitoring and control of military and dual-use exports was apparent. There must be clear guidelines on the identification of all materials and components and Irish manufacturing equipment must not fall into the hands of undemocratic or oppressive regimes to be used against their people.

Worldwide spending on arms is estimated to have surpassed €850 billion in 2006, approximately 15 times the amount spent on overseas aid. This figure, spent at a time when the arms industry was increasingly able to avoid export controls, is greater than the amount spent at the height of the Cold War. Each year, 500,000 men, women and children die through the use of small arms and light weapons.

In October 2006, the United Nations passed a resolution to commence work on establishing an international arms trade treaty. While Ireland has played an honourable, historical and pivotal role in the world, which has been recognised at UN level, all EU member states are obliged to work flat-out to implement the resolution and to establish an effective, legally binding international arms trade treaty that lays down minimum global standards for arms transfers. I welcome that the Government is in the process of doing so, as it means progress has been made since this Bill was debated in and passed by the Seanad in February and March, respectively. On behalf of my party, I want to ensure that every effort is being made to establish a legally binding arms trade treaty. In his summation, will the Minister of State elucidate on the progress made so far and how we can promote an important and central tenet of our policy?

Deputy Higgins has been to the forefront in pointing out how Ireland has been involved in the international arms trade despite the Government's frequent denials. The assertion made during the Seanad debate that Ireland is not an arms provider in the normal international sense does not square with the fact that Irish-based companies exported military equipment with a value of €30 million in 2005. The figure did not fall in 2006, although my colleague may have up-to-date figures.

What efforts has Ireland, an important member of the EU, made to object to or restrain the Union, one of the world's largest sources of armaments? We must use the influence we have gained during the past 80 or 90 years to try to restrain the EU's armaments and munitions industry.

Under this legislation, the strongest expert checks must be in place if we are to ensure that military and dual-use goods reach their declared end users instead of brutal and oppressive regimes. This is a significant challenge, but monitoring is of importance to the Labour Party, which will seek stronger legislation. The Minister of State might reply in that respect. The current legislation is outdated. Since its origins in 1983, there has been a considerable increase in terrorism and atrocities perpetrated on innocent civilians. Recent examples include the Balkan conflict, atrocities committed against millions in Darfur and events in Burma. We must be cognisant of all relevant world activities.

I must be honest in that I read the summary of the Forfás report, but it made a number of recommendations of a non-legislative nature, including the establishment of a technical advisory panel in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in respect of the licensing process. The aptly titled OELAS has been established and will soon be up and running. On behalf of the Labour Party, I welcome the Department's adoption of the report's recommendations and the establishment of a standing committee.

The Minister of State addressed section 8 on penalties, which provides for an increase from €12,700 under the 1983 Act to €10 million and five years imprisonment for breaches of the Act. At one point, the European Communities Act only permitted summary matters to be addressed, but this Bill will expand the provisions to indictable offences. I welcome the imposition of these penalties because one can introduce all of the legislation in the world. While my party is in favour of this element of the Bill and supports the overall legislation, we will reserve the right to table amendments if we deem it so desirable to ensure the strengthening of the legislation and that its avowed objective is comprehensively achieved.

In a time of great uncertainty amid terrorist threats and numerous conflict areas, those involved in the arms industry are becoming rich. It is an obscenity. We cannot turn our backs or behave like ostriches by failing to recognise that the rapid face of capitalism is at work in conflict areas. Somebody is accumulating significant riches as a result of atrocities and human suffering.

I wonder whether we or the Government live in the real world, as Ministers' replies to the effect that Ireland does not have an arms trade offends reality. Like my colleague, Deputy Higgins, Jim Loughran of Amnesty International wrote an excellent article on this issue in January 2005 in which he exposed the myth perpetrated by many, including Ministers. We should acknowledge our indebtedness to Amnesty International for doing invaluable work. In Mr. Loughran's article, he stated the arms trade is out of control and that each week sees the production of yet another report documenting how the international arms trade fuels conflict, undermines development and creates poverty. He stated:

Arms kill more than half a million men, women and children on average each year. Many thousands more are maimed, or tortured, or forced to flee their homes.

He indicated that world leaders should act now and supplied extracts from a number of Amnesty International reports on European arms exports in 2004.

The EU code of conduct failed to prevent Austria from transferring rifle production to Malaysia and the production of French helicopters under licence in India which were subsequently transferred to Nepal. EU arms embargoes failed to prevent the incorporation of German engines in military vehicles available in Burma, China and Croatia. Amnesty Ireland produced a report, Undermining Global Security, which pointed out many loopholes in the export controls in place across Europe which are intended to ensure that exports and dual-use goods do not contribute to the abuse of human rights. The report stated that Ireland was part of the problem. Deputy Michael Higgins wrote about the problem at the time of the report's publication. We must accept that we have these problems.

The Labour Party has a number of concerns on certain aspects of the Bill. Where in the Bill is there an effective export licensing and control system and comprehensive system to monitor end users of arms exports? How will we exercise control over Irish citizens who circumvent checks put in place within the EU by relocating themselves outside the Union? We appreciate that these are technical questions and the Minister of State's comments in that context, but we feel they should be addressed. Effective legislation on controls and monitoring depends on the adoption of similar legislation throughout the EU. The House must ask if all other member states intend to bring similar laws onto their statute books. Given our tardiness in responding, other member states should be putting legislation in place by now. The Bill's effectiveness depends on this all-Europe approach and it will be interesting to see what happens given the significant involvement of some member states in the manufacture and trade of arms.

I am also concerned about technological components which, while they appear relatively harmless and may be exported for normal use, are capable of being transformed into something sinister when integrated as components of armaments or other devices. Such technology can have devastating and horrific if unintended consequences. We must ask how we can prevent these scenarios from emerging. The Labour Party holds that Ireland should clearly oppose any involvement in the production or sale of any product the main function of which is military. It would be a positive moral standpoint to adopt and underpin our independence when we engage in our positive role as mediators to achieve the peaceful resolution of disputes across the globe. We should send a clear message from the House in this regard.

An appeal was made to the Minister of State's predecessor in the Seanad to broaden the remit of the Bill and to avoid focusing on narrow issues of arms brokering. We should also focus on the control of activity relating to the production and sale of military equipment. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State would address that appeal in his reply on this Stage or on Committee Stage. Section 3(2)(b) of the Bill refers to activities carried on outside the State by individuals who are Irish citizens or companies registered in the State. What provision is made to cover circumstances in which a person engages in brokering activities outside the State where the person is resident in but not a citizen of Ireland? It appears there is a lacuna in the Bill in this context and it is important to ensure it is addressed on Committee Stage.

As I said at the outset, the Labour Party believes that a strong monitoring system must be implemented to oversee the end use of products. I am interested to know how the European Union code of conduct on arms exports gels with the contents of the Bill. There may be aspects of the code we should ensure are enshrined in our legislation. These could be introduced in Government or other amendments on Committee Stage. On the corollary point, if the European code is inadequate, we should raise the matter at EU level. Our goal must be to tighten control of end-use and dual-purpose products.

It is timely to bring forward this legislation, which the Labour Party will support. While admittedly there are some technical issues which arise, we welcome the Bill. We anticipate a constructive Committee Stage debate on which we hope some of the points that have been made by my colleague and I will be incorporated in the Bill. Our focus is on strengthening the legislation to achieve what is a worthwhile objective.

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