James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I join my colleagues in congratulating Deputy Timmins on bringing this legislation before the House and into the public arena. I am disgusted with the Minister for speaking from both sides of his mouth on this issue. While paying lip service to what is, I am sure, a genuine commitment to facilitate the total abolition of the production and stockpiling of cluster munitions, the Minister seems constrained by another agenda which, it is common knowledge, concerns the National Pensions Reserve Fund. What goes on behind the scenes or who is advising or constraining the Minister will not of course be revealed here.

I do not dispute the Minister's contention that he is passionate about this matter and I know he was referring to the former rather than the latter area of discussion on this Bill. Who could not be passionate about the elimination of one of the most diabolical forms of warfare ever invented? The Independent newspaper in London has welcomed the worldwide efforts to remove such an evil as "Cluster's last stand". It is to be hoped that this is the last stand and that Ireland can play its part in the total abolition of such weapons. It should not be surprising that cluster bombs were invented by the Nazis in the 1940s, when we consider the pure evil of these devices that have brought such a scourge to the world.

What distorted thinking could invent a weapon of destruction that has a fatal attraction for children? This is something to which my colleague, Deputy Breen, referred. It is horrifying to think that something is so brightly coloured and attractive that it calls out to be played with has killed or maimed so many children, including children here in Ireland. With 132 million unexploded bombs lying in wait for the unsuspecting in 20 countries worldwide, the prospect for future generations is appalling.

Cluster bombs are so called because as they fall they separate into dozens of small, bright yellow bomblets, each one being about the size of a can of coke. These weapons currently cannot be aimed at a specific target but it seems that President Bush's apparently soon to be released super cluster bomb is set to change that. It will have the capacity to take out a number of specified targets.

In January this year the United States said it was ready to create a rapid reaction force to defuse bombs left over from conflicts. It committed a new force to going at short notice to places where civilian populations were at risk. This represents progress on one hand but the reality is that too many countries are still stockpiling such weapons, in direct contradiction with such initiatives. The US is one such country and Russia, China and Israel are also to the fore.

The other side of the coin to be considered in this debate is the matter of the pensions funds. It is ironic and very sad that a pension fund, which should be associated with peaceful and safe retirement, can be associated with an area of horror and destruction. This Bill would allow for the elimination of any benefit from investment in the trade of cluster munitions, though it is horrifying that it should have to do so.

This Bill has been brought forward in the spirit of the removal of human suffering but the Minister's comment last night left me unable to understand his contention that this is a matter he feels passionately about. Which aspect, in particular, causes such a response? I certainly do not mean to imply that business concerns could in any way cloud the Minister's judgment, but what are we to think? On one hand there are admirable Government initiatives on this matter that will see a world focus from like-minded nations when Ireland hosts the Croke Park conference. I note the Minister, through his amendments, is procrastinating in true Government style on what should be a cut and dried matter. That is unless there is a subtext of which we are unaware.

The crux of the matter is the domestic ban but to say that in this House feels strange. It may not be politically correct to say so, but I remind the House that Ireland is a neutral nation. Matters of war do not concern us in terms of the stockpiling and production of cluster munitions. However, rationalise as we might, we are still guilty, to some extent, of the promotion of cluster munitions and this applies particularly to the Minister.

For the Government to vote against this Bill is to make a mockery of the Croke Park conference. As I said earlier, paying lip service is the name of Minister's game.

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