Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

We could have an exception for Dustin the turkey. Other than that, I cannot see what function this provision has and I suggest it be deleted. There is another oddity in this Bill which I would like the Minister of State to explain. I may have some sympathy with the point but it is wrong-headed. Under section 12(1)(c)(iv) if a person is likely to endanger himself or herself or others a passport can be withheld. Subsection (ii) covers a person who might endanger others and I have no difficulty with the idea of refusing that person a passport. What does the concept of people not endangering themselves mean? Do we withhold passports from a group of climbers who want to climb Mount Everest because someone thinks that is unwise as they might endanger themselves, from someone who wants to run in the New York marathon who we believe is not fit enough to do so, from NGO organisations working in dangerous parts of the world such as Darfur or from individuals who want to engage in other forms of conduct outside Ireland which we all know to be unsafe but which might be beneficial? Human beings are entitled to make choices and I am not sure what benefit there is in that provision.

The Department of Foreign Affairs may wish to stop the sort of conduct we witnessed in the past couple of weeks when an individual, for political reasons, defied the view of the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and of Foreign Affairs by, apparently illegally, entering Gaza but the Egyptians would not allow the person to return. What people do illegally, what they say, the parts of the world they seek to enter, and the people with whom they engage often gives us more insight into what they believe when they pronounce on other occasions. If someone chooses to go to Gaza, good luck to him or her. Does the Minister for Foreign Affairs intend not to issue a passport to, or remove one from, someone of that sort, bearing in mind that the same criteria apply in both cases? The person might then be permanently, indefinitely or for a specific period deprived of his or her right to travel.

These are important issues and concern not only the issuing of passports but also their removal. If I go abroad and say something that discomfits the Minister will someone in the immigration office in Dublin Airport take my passport from me? Do we want to empower a future Government to do that? Let us assume that there is a Minister for Foreign Affairs or a Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform who is somewhat hotheaded, does not think matters through clearly, shoots from the hip——

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