Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

Everyone knows that under Article VI of the non-proliferation treaty, as the Minister's predecessors agreed, there was supposed to be nuclear disarmament. Countries ignored that. The Minister has now added a sixth country to the five who are free to abuse the treaty. What credibility does he now have? He is allowing, for example, eight nuclear installations in India not to be under anybody's control. He tells the House that monitoring of 14 out of 22 installations is better than nothing. His predecessor, Frank Aiken, would not be satisfied with something that is better than nothing. What credibility does he have now when facing the Iranian question? He will take up a strong position on a country that has not demonstrably breached any of its obligations with regard to international treaties.

I am sorry the Minister does not like the phrase "rolling over".

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