Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Maybe he was smuggling. To sum up, we have made our points and the Minister has made his. I would encourage him to encourage gardaí at Shannon to carry out their duties of care, duties of crime prevention and duty to comply with Irish and international law and conventions. They can do that only by checking the aeroplanes but it seems the Minister is not prepared to make that obligatory.

We have heard that gardaí are not allowed to check. It would be great if someone in the Government recommended that they do check, even if it is only sporadic. Mr. Colm O'Gorman of Amnesty International which, God knows, is not a radical organisation asked:

How we can speak out about human rights if we do not apply them ourselves? Ireland is not an innocent bystander. We have been complicit in kidnapping and torture by allowing Shannon Airport to be used as a stopover for rendition flights.

In a Red C poll last year 78% of the people of Ireland said they would be in favour of the State taking a position of neutrality and enshrining it in the Constitution. This is something the Government should consider. Taking a position of neutrality is about promoting peace in the world and it would be brilliant if we were to take a strong stand on the issue.

We know that Mr. Julian Assange has been in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for almost two years. Despite the fact that he was granted asylum by Ecuador, he is not allowed to travel there. The United Kingdom is in breach of international law and has breached the rules on asylum, which is very disappointing. I would like the Government to express its concern that international law is being breached in not allowing Mr. Assange the asylum he was granted by Ecuador. He is in the Ecuadorian embassy and has not been out in the fresh air for over two years. This is a guy who exposed a lot of wrongdoing around the world and is paying the price for it. It would be great if Ireland was to take a neutral stand and highlight the unfairness of his plight and treatment.

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