Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I am not surprised by the Tánaiste's answer. The position he outlined is incredibly disappointing for Ireland. In 1958, this country took the initiative that led to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. It was a wonderful achievement at the time. In essence, the Tánaiste is saying a country that stays outside the terms of the treaty can basically get away with whatever it likes, whereas a country that signs up to the treaty subjects itself to international scrutiny. Despite what the Tánaiste has said, not a single shred of evidence has been produced to say Iran is manufacturing nuclear weapons.

In fact, there is much evidence to show the real objective is to stop Iran from developing uranium, an activity which it is perfectly entitled to do for peaceful means, provided it does so under the scrutiny of the IAEA, as it has done.

Israel, on the other hand, remains outside the treaty and has developed possession of at least 400 weapons, yet the United States has continued to pump in money, making Israel the largest recipient of US military aid despite it not being open to any scrutiny. If one was to follow the logic of the reply, what a country could do is pull out of the treaty and basically not be subject to any scrutiny whatsoever. It is not good enough to just say "Come on in. Join the treaty, lads". We should be publicly demanding that Israel adheres to the same standards it seeks to impose on Iran.

See this speech in context