Joe O'Toole (Independent)

While I was pleased to hear about East Timor and was glad to note the Minister of State visited the region, that is not what is at issue in this debate.

I wish to counter some of the assumptions made about Members on these benches. I am not, nor have I been, a pacifist. I believe in taking appropriate action to deal with matters. I would have preferred if the United Nations had passed a second resolution. It would then have been more interesting to see who in the country was for and against the war. At present, everybody is anti-war, yet most are unsure where they stand on the use of Shannon Airport. On principle, I am opposed to the use of the Shannon stopover, but I am not certain if it is a point of principle. That aspect needs to be teased out.

There is a lot of misinformation. Although I disagree with much of what Senator Scanlon said, I agree with his views on the RTE coverage of the war. It is one of the few broadcasters that is providing sane coverage. I spent the last two nights viewing CNN and Sky News, both of which are appalling. The BBC is somewhat better. It is because RTE has three journalists in the region and a foreign editor at the station that we can at least get an Irish perspective on this. We are not confined to a feed from CNN, although I understand RTE took one recently. It is good that Irish people are reporting for RTE in Kuwait, Baghdad and on the northern border. I hope and expect them to provide rational coverage for the duration of the war.

The Leader will be aware that on many occasions I have requested a debate on neutrality. Since I became a Senator I have asked every Minister for Foreign Affairs to debate it. Dick Spring and Deputy Cowen were the only two Ministers who addressed it with style, panache and understanding. I do not fully agree with the Minister's interpretation. However, since Dick Spring produced the White Paper on Foreign Policy, he was the first Minister for Foreign Affairs to address the issue and to raise awkward questions.

Every time somebody speaks about neutrality I ask him or her the same question. Is he or she referring to moral, political or military neutrality? This country has never been neutral and is not required to be under the Constitution. This is similar to the belief the Constitution tells us to cherish all the children of the nation equally. That is not the case. It states something similar, into which people have read.