Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister began by saying there are sufficient rules and regulations in place. Nonetheless, there is no oversight or scrutiny and no independent assessment. It reminds me of the situation with Priory Hall. People were hopping up and down, giving out that the building regulations are terrible in Ireland. The building regulations are not terrible in Ireland; they are powerful. The problem was we were not implementing them because there were no independent inspections and rogue builders could build badly and get away with it.

It is all very well to say sufficient rules and regulations are in place in Shannon and that we have nothing about which to worry. Unless there are inspections, however, we do not know the truth. While the Minister says it is not his area of responsibility, I would say we should make the inspections obligatory and there would then be no grey area. The Minister said the airport is not being used for the transportation of arms or for military exercises in any form. Again, unless we have obligatory inspections, we will not know whether that is true. The Minister said we take their word in good faith. I am sure Angela Merkel feels a little different about that now she has found out the NSA was bugging her telephone, even though she thought they were on her side. These are people who I do not believe have proved worthy of their word and I do not think their word is worth tuppence.

The Minister said the rules are geared towards developing the airport as a civilian airport. I certainly hope Shannon grows as a civilian airport. It would be great if it were to develop in a serious way and became an even more powerful civilian facility than it is at the moment. However, that does not change the fact we should not turn a blind eye to any power, the US or otherwise, breaking international humanitarian law when using our airspace. The only way we can address that issue is through obligatory scrutiny and independent assessment.

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