Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. I have no doubt that he gave my amendment serious consideration, which we anticipated after he referred to it on Committee Stage.

The Labour Party had a number of concerns in respect of certain aspects of the Bill. We wanted to put in place an effective export licensing and control system that was comprehensive enough to monitor the end users of arms exports, an important matter. We wanted to broaden the Bill's remit to avoid focus on the narrow issues of arms brokering and to focus on the control of activity relating to the production and sale of military equipment. I tabled the amendment to sections 3 to 5, inclusive, because they, as originated with the Government, contained wide powers with no express principles or policies that would bring the sections within the constitutional requirement of the Cityview Press v. AnCO case, namely, that principles and policies must be alluded to in the Act. The Minister of State has considered this matter and taken legal advice from the Attorney General, by which he is bound, but I disagree respectfully with the eminent Attorney General. Be that as it may, I know from where the Minister of State is coming and I accept his bona fides in that regard.

It is always better to set out principles and policies. The Minister of State has come a significant amount of the way in so far as the purpose of the Act is concerned. Broad policy principles to ensure the overall thrust of the control of arms as enunciated in the Bill can be read in each line, section and subsection. This is important to the Labour Party, which I stated on behalf of the Labour Party on Second Stage. I welcome the fact that my colleague, Deputy Higgins, is present because he and my colleague in Europe, Mr. Proinsias De Rossa, MEP, have made a significant effort in this regard. A strong monitoring system must be implemented to oversee the end use of products. We were eager to ascertain how the EU's code of conduct on arms exports gels with this Bill, which will shortly become an Act. Other Acts contain the code and we should take further steps to ensure it is enshrined in legislation.

This is timely legislation for which we have waited a considerable period. The issue is technical, but it was important to the Labour Party that the principles of the Bill be referred to at all times. We wanted them to be set out specifically and the Minister of State has come a significant way in terms of the Bill's purpose. My colleague, Deputy Higgins, wishes to speak, but the Minister of State can take it that we will run with his proposal.

See this speech in context