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

The Minister is returning to form in trying to mislead the House. I, of course, abhor the activities of Osama bin Laden. The point I am making is that this was not an aircraft bringing soldiers on their holidays. It is a specially modified aircraft for engagement in military exercises. The idea that the Minister could say with certainty that these aircraft are not so engaged, when Defence Forces personnel have consistently failed to examine them, beggars belief. There are no Russian aircraft or Chinese war planes landing at Shannon Airport, only US aircraft. Can the Minister really not join the dots, given what we see happening around the globe, including the build-up of military aggression in the Ukraine and Syria, for example, and conclude that the US establishment is unlikely to waste its money sending troops on their holidays on these types of aircraft? Will he not agree that the flights might have some other purpose? The Minister has some neck in insisting otherwise when he has not taken the trouble to examine the situation.

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