Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

With the agreement of the House, I will share my time with Deputy Jerry Buttimer.

I welcome the debate on Libya. I welcome the assistance being provided by the Government to the people of Libya. Details of this assistance were outlined by the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, in a reply to a parliamentary question and by the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs in the House earlier today. I am sure we all welcome this funding and the other assistance that will be committed by Irish Aid.

There is a real and disturbing humanitarian crisis within Libya. More than 250,000 Libyan people are thought to have fled across the borders of their country. This humanitarian crisis has been inflicted on the Libyan people, not by outside forces but by their own leader. I use the word "leader" loosely.

What we see in Libya is tangible proof that the rule of Colonel Gadaffi was no benevolent dictatorship but a despotic regime. For far too long the western world tolerated the antics of Colonel Gadaffi and was happy to view him as a sort of rogue, presumably for the sake of trade, rather than as an illegitimate and cruel dictator who was willing to engage in violence and murder, and continues to do so to this day. In light of the activities of recent weeks, it is farcical to think that Libya had, until recently, a seat on the UN Human Rights Commission.

I acknowledge the constructive role of the UN in its adoption of Resolution 1973 and the position adopted by the European Council last week. The actions taken to date have prioritised protecting civilians and it is important to note that the purpose of such actions is to protect innocent civilians from the hand of the brutal regime under which they currently live. I have read and heard much comment comparing the intervention in Libya to the war in Iraq. We heard some of that in the House today. Such comparisons do not stand up to a real level of scrutiny. We must move away from the rhetoric of vested interest and western imperialism. Such rhetoric does an injustice to the seriousness of the crisis in Libya and to the intelligence of people.

There are crucial differences between the Libyan intervention and the war in Iraq. First, there is a clear United Nations resolution authorising the Libyan mission. Second, the resolution sets out very clearly objectives to help the people of Libya. It aims to bring an end to the violence currently ravaging Libya, protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian access. Third, the resolution has the support of neighbouring countries in the Arab League.

I welcome this morning's news that an international conference will be held in London to further examine ways of protecting civilians and assisting the humanitarian crisis in Libya. My thoughts are with the people of Libya and all those oppressed by dictatorship. I am grateful to live and participate in a democracy and to be a Member of a Parliament where we can all express our views freely, no matter how diverse they might be. Let us remember those who cannot.

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