Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I respect Senator Norris's right to speak and he should permit me to do so also. We must speak about tolerance and respect it in what we say. There is an unfortunate prejudice, not just in the area of policy, against the President of the United States. There is something near racial in the comments I have heard in recent times against the American people and their President.

The debate on Shannon has been a distraction from the core issue, resolution 1441 and those resolutions passed in 1991 of which Iraq has been in material breach for the past decade. That is the core issue, not our predisposition or otherwise towards the American administration or what takes place in Shannon. We must concentrate on that issue, as pointed out by Senator Bradford.

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain two colossal blocs have tried to administer a form of security and control in the world. Dangerous weapons of mass destruction, some of them produced for the West – Senator Norris is right to point that out that appalling contradiction – may fall into the hands of terrorist organisations or rogue states. Rogue states do exist and Saddam Hussein's regime is one of them.