Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

The Minister will be aware of the serious nature of the matter. I am sure his attention has also been drawn to the fact that his Slovak counterpart narrowly survived a motion of no confidence in the Parliament.

The incident raises a number of serious questions for the Minister. I ask him to indicate to the House the timeline and terms of reference set out for the Garda investigation and report. I would have thought that it is at an advanced stage at this point and that we would be in a position to examine it in its entirety.

With regard to consultation between the Minister and the Minister for Transport on security matters, I note that the proposal to introduce full body scanners at airports has been given a positive reception. They will be aware, however, that body scanners operate on passengers who are departing rather than those who are arriving. If security measures in countries such as Slovakia are as lax as this incident would indicate, I suggest that we consider reviewing security at points of entry to the State. What steps have been taken by way of discussions with appropriate authorities since this incident on the matter of improving security at points of entry?

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