Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for staying in the House for so long to listen to this debate. I sympathise with the families of the American and British soldiers who lost their lives in the war earlier this morning. I also extend my sympathies to the families of Iraqi civilians who have died. I regret to say it is likely that many more, on both sides of the conflict, will lose their lives in the coming days and weeks. Death is inevitable during a war.

I regret that this war is taking place and the way in which it has come about. People waited for many weeks as the UN Security Council tried to agree on a new resolution. It is most regrettable that one did not come about. The Taoiseach said in the Dáil on 19 February that it was a political imperative that a second UN resolution should be secured. Where did we go wrong? How did he lose his way in the meantime? The fact that a second resolution which should have been a political imperative has not been agreed has weakened the Security Council. It will take time to rebuild the trust we had in it.