Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and the opportunity to debate this important issue. I encourage people to speak their minds in this debate. There has, over the last month or so, been a reluctance on the part of people who hold different opinions to speak out because of a significant weight of media pressure and media opinion which takes a very anti-American position on this issue. That is unfortunate.

I speak as someone who is independent on this issue but who has reached a conclusion which I would like to see regarding international affairs. We have spent too much time talking about President George W. Bush, against whom there is an unfortunate prejudice.