Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

Next Wednesday in Oslo, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, on behalf of Ireland, will sign the convention against cluster munitions. This convention is welcomed by different parties in the House. Consistent with that and our discussion in this House on the matter, will the Minister for Finance submit those companies who are part of any consortium for the Irish banking sector such as the Carlyle Corporation, which may have been involved in funding the production of cluster munitions, to the same ethical test we have often asked for in this House for the National Pensions Reserve Fund, which had the support of all sides of the House and equally, when the House was discussing the NTMA? It is at the heart of the Department of Foreign Affairs mission statement that we will promote human rights. Given that the company is one of the tenth biggest defence contractors and has an eminent board which has assisted in procuring defence contracts and so forth, is it not appropriate for the Minister to publish ethical guidelines? The most important issue is that we have liquidity in the Irish banking system but it needs to be qualified by a social responsibility and an ethical foreign policy test. Is it the Minister's intention to address these issues in any consideration he might be making of the involvement of outside bankers in the Irish banking system?

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