Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

I wish to ask about two related Bills. The first concerns the Cabinet sub-committee, which I understand has met twice, most recently in 2009, and which is considering issues around reform of human rights and the Air Navigation Acts 1978 and 1988. Legislation was promised.

Related to that is the biological weapons Bill, which will prohibit the use, development, production, manufacture, possession, stockpiling and so forth of biological weapons. I mention this because the biological weapons Bill, as described, would not prohibit the transmission of biological weapons through Irish airspace. It would be confined in its prohibition to companies registered in Ireland, members of the Defence Forces and so on.

To be positive, a great deal of effort went into the cluster munitions legislation in a bipartisan way and before that, into the landmines legislation.

See this speech in context