Mary White (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)

I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy McGuinness, on his recent appointment. He is a constituency colleague of mine in Carlow-Kilkenny and I wish him well. I welcome the bringing forward to the House of a Bill the Green Party believes is long overdue, especially in the unsettling geopolitical world in which we currently find ourselves. I think especially of Burma.

There are many useful elements of the Bill. The Green Party welcomes especially the proposed production for the first time of an annual report. We are especially pleased to note that the annual report will be laid before the Dáil and that there will be ample opportunity to debate and scrutinise the arms industry in Ireland. The Green Party welcomes also the proposal to submit the annual report for discussion by the joint committee covering enterprise matters. The provision will introduce a new level of political and public scrutiny of an industry which has long avoided investigation. The joint committee will be empowered to receive experts on the industry and their input will shed further light on the workings and ramifications of the industry as a whole. While the departmental report and committee scrutiny will result in greater transparency and accountability, the Green Party will continue to insist on annual debates and further increases in parliamentary scrutiny of this industry. I welcome the openness and transparency in the conducting of the legislation through the Oireachtas.

There is further scope within the ministerial orders provided for in the Bill to regulate and control the exportation and brokering of specific goods. Hopefully, such orders will address many of the fears voiced by civil society on the illegitimate end use of certain goods and the trade in the tools of torture. It is especially important for the Green Party to ensure that nothing in the Bill compromises or negatively affects human rights. The Bill contains scope for the Oireachtas and Government to tighten the leash on the export of dual-use goods which can be used to repress human rights in places like Burma, of which we have been reading every day for the past couple of weeks.

As someone who has spent time on the Thai border, I have looked across the blue mountains in the Burmese countryside and thought of the freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi. This month sees the passing of the 11th year of her house arrest. As a recently-elected woman Deputy in a free, open, functioning democracy, I send my support to the Burmese people and their opposition leader. I hope desperately that the Bill ensures nothing is exported from Ireland that has an end use which is prejudicial in places of strife like Burma. I speak from the heart as a woman democrat.

I anticipate further progress on Committee Stage when I am sure we will have time for the further teasing out of the implications of the Bill by all of us who are concerned about the international arms trade and exports from Ireland of dual-use products. We will have time for greater scrutiny still in the joint committee. As my party's spokesman on enterprise and employment, I hope to have an input at the joint committee. The Green Party wishes to ensure that human rights are not compromised by the Bill. The Minister of State will do everything in his power to ensure we have comprehensive legislation. I look forward to tracking the Bill as it progresses through the Oireachtas.

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