Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I never thought I would be hearing us speak about space, but here you go. This is probably the longest ratification process in the history of the Dáil. The first treaty was ratified the year I was born and we are working towards approving it in the Dáil now. That is a bit of progress anyway, so we will get there.

The cosmonaut Alexei Leonov said, "The Earth was small, light blue, and so touchingly alone, our home that must be defended like a holy relic." I thought of these words today as I considered these proposals. As humankind, we have already committed terrible acts against our planet. The penalties we are paying now are in the form of erratic weather patterns, natural disasters and the displacement of people across the globe. Avoiding these mistakes in the great vastness that is space must be something that we can do to defend our holy relic, Earth.

I welcome the debate and indicate Sinn Féin's support for the Dáil's approval of the terms of the outer space treaty of 1969. The treaty is many decades old and came into being at a time of great upheaval and change for our world. It was signed by the then powers, at a time the Cold War was at its height and space exploration was a rallying call for the respective Cold War camps. It was an opportunity to highlight the superiority of one ideology over another. Without such a treaty the world would have been in great peril, with the potential of weapons of mass destruction put in place in outer space. The State ratified the treaty long ago, with almost 100 other countries, but due to the advice of the Attorney General we must formally do so now by Dáil vote.

We support the treaty. It outlines how space should be used and for what purposes. The treaty should be updated to be gender-proofed as some of the language in the 1960s and 1970s would not be accepted today. The treaty outlines a number of important aspects of our use of space, such as that the exploration and use of outer space should be carried out for the benefit and in the interest of all countries and should be the province of all mankind. Another aspect is that outer space should be free for exploration and use by all states. The treaty also outlines that outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation or by any other means. If all of these aims are protected, we will be in a much better place. These are principles my party is happy to support. We have some concerns with regard to the potential weaponisation of space. The treaty makes no reference to the use of conventional weapons in that setting. Nor does it mention any governance of the use of Earth-launched weapons to target space infrastructure.

As the TV show says, space is the final frontier. The frontier seems far less remote than it did on that famous day in April 1961 when Yuri Gagarin became the first human to enter space. It is right and proper that laws are in place to cover its exploration and its use. This treaty of principles has stymied efforts by those nations who may wish to colonise space. It is an international treaty that ensures space is not the site of weapons of mass destruction. It is a treaty with noble aims and one we should all support.

Irish companies and people are playing an important role at European level when it comes to the exploration of space. The number of Irish companies working for the European Space Agency has grown by 60% in the past five years. Make no mistake, Ireland has a stake in ratifying the treaty. Sinn Féin will also protect funding for Science Foundation Ireland becoming an associate member of CERN to deliver significant benefits in areas such as research and development, technology, education, training, jobs and procurement.

As space travel has expanded from an activity of nation states into the realm of private enterprise, it is important that the principles of the treaty are held on to resolutely. States must be responsible for activities regardless of whether they are carried out by the State or private companies. They have a responsibility to ensure the use of space is not monopolised by the wealthy few. Equally important is the principle of liability for damage caused by human-made space equipment and the environmental damage this has the potential to cause in space and on Earth.

We must be vigilant regarding the involvement of private companies such as SpaceX and how it operates in space. It has already deployed almost 2,000 satellites. We must ensure their use is monitored. The scale of the operation of SpaceX should be a cause for concern. Astronauts view the Starlink satellites as a primary collision hazard in the Earth's orbit. Environmentalists have raised concerns about the sheer volume of metal that will be burning in the atmosphere with the potential to trigger unprecedented changes to our climate.

For generations many children have dreamed about going to space. As space travel has expanded into the private realm in recent years, it is important that companies involved in such pursuits focus on ensuring they remain a diverse workforce. As a State we can be proud of our involvement in the European Space agency. We can be proud of the almost 100 companies from Ireland participating in space activities. We have a responsibility to ratify the treaty and I urge everyone to do so.

See this speech in context