Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

If I might deconstruct that reply, I will put my questions simply. Will the Minister give details of who precisely contacted the Irish Government, as is reported in The Irish Times today, and at what level, with the aim of taking away one of the building blocks of Irish foreign policy? The Minister mentioned Dr. ElBaradei, but Dr. ElBaradei's predecessor Dr. Blix, in visiting the Minister's predecessor at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, clearly stated that the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty was very important. Those of us who are interested in the international significance of this responded to his suggestion that a secretariat be appointed for the treaty. On several occasions at Question Time I have asked the Minister's predecessors about the implications for Ireland's non-proliferation treaty of agreeing to the US-India nuclear agreement, and at every occasion the Minister's predecessors have said they have the gravest concerns. What the Minister is really saying now is that because only two countries supported him in the late stages, possibly Austria and New Zealand, he decided it was best to roll over.

What is the difference between India and the five existing nuclear powers — those countries that regularly breach Article VI of the non-proliferation treaty? The discipline they have with regard to the IAEA is exactly what is on offer from India. A sixth nuclear power has been created and the non-proliferation treaty has been abandoned, or crucially weakened. As well as that, the Minister must remember the review conferences in 1995 and 2000, when we joined with other countries to create the New Agenda Coalition. The 2005 review conference was not a success, but we continued working on. Now the Minister has thrown in the towel. Could he give the reasons for this to the House? What pressure was applied by Condoleezza Rice? Did President Bush phone the Taoiseach? The Minister's predecessor will remember that the Indian Prime Minister sent a special delegate here to pressurise people into saying "Yes". Finally, perhaps the Minister will give details of the multi-billion-dollar arms contract between the US and India which followed within days of the agreement.

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