Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is right that there has been a long tradition in this country, because we are a small island nation, that we look out. Looking out on the world, why not look all the way, like Shackleton and others who engaged in that exploration and period of discovery and caught people's imagination? Today, the Antarctic is the subject of razor focus again because it is one location where the future of humanity on this planet will be decided. If the Antarctic ice sheets disappeared, the level of flooding would be beyond on compare. Dublin would be gone. Annascaul might survive because it must be 50 m or 60 m up, but Tralee, Inch and Dingle would be under water. It is in all our interests to understand what is happening in the farthest reaches of the world. I commend the Deputy on the question, because sometimes we need to think big and look beyond just the immediate issues to think of the real challenges facing us.

The Deputy mentioned some politicians who addressed this. When we were last in government, my colleague, Mary White, pushed for us to be a signatory of the Antarctic Treaty. The Department of Foreign Affairs and other Departments were commissioned to look at what was required. The answer was that there was a complex legislative issue. We left Government as time passed and no more progress was made. In this Government, last year, the Taoiseach wrote to the Minister for Foreign Affairs to ask the Department to lead work to re-examine the merits of signing the Antarctic Treaty. The Department of Foreign Affairs undertook to carry out an assessment to establish an up-to-date picture of what would be required in administrative policy and legislation. Its report was provided two months ago, in April. It outlines the complex legislative requirements. The Attorney General advised that what would seem a simple stroke of a pen has implications for the law that would apply to our citizens.

The great thing about the Antarctic Treaty is that it creates a safe neutral space, at a time when the world is a war. It is a space where it is agreed that the ordinary rules of international agreement are different. It is a place for sharing scientific knowledge, for prohibiting nuclear testing, for real environmental conservation, with rules relating to fishing, waste disposal, territorial claims and military activity. All of those require underpinning to make sure that we adhere to them. They are real commitments with real consequences. That report from the Department of Foreign Affairs was completed recently and is now being shared with other Departments with a view to bringing it to fruition. It will not be easy. It is a legislative and bureaucratic challenge, but we should overcome it. Particularly with the wider world today, Ireland thinking globally would be good.

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