Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to reply to some of the Minister of State's comments. The Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality asked us if we would be able to get to the meeting. We said it was not possible. I am sure Deputy Mac Lochlainn of Sinn Féin and Deputy Niall Collins were asked as well. None of us could go, so I do not know why the committee bothered asking us. I should point out that this is not the first Bill the Minister has missed. While I have no problem with her going to Malta, I suggest that if the Government is seriously concerned about refugees, the first thing it should do is stop allowing Shannon Airport to be used by the US military as an airbase from which to destroy communities worldwide. I remind the House that 2.1 million citizens have been killed by US military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. Many of the troops who killed those people and many of the munitions that were used to kill them came through Shannon Airport or through Irish airspace. It is the height of hypocrisy for us to say we care about the refugees if we continue to allow Shannon Airport to be used as a US military airbase. Some 33 million people have been displaced by the wars-----

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