Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I thank the Minister of State for coming here to address this matter. He said the humanitarian food crisis had been averted. This is excessively optimistic and too narrowly focused. As we know, Iraq already faced a humanitarian crisis and still does so according to the various reports in the press and confirmed by the Minister of State today. These problems include malnutrition, high mortality rates in children – particularly those under five – lack of hospital facilities, etc.

I agree with Senator Bradford that we must look forward and determine where we go from here. There is no point saying "We told you so". However, our actions must be informed by the fact that the war, the sanctions before that and the previous war were wrong and were largely the cause of the problems that have created many of the potential dangers for the future security of the region and the world. The culpability lies mainly with the occupying powers. However, despite what Senator Lydon said, the international community, including Ireland, did not take a stand against the war. It is particularly important that we now take responsibility for the reconstruction of Iraq. As Chris Patten said a few weeks ago: "The question before us is not whether we should be involved in the reconstruction of Iraq, but how we should be involved and what is required for it to be a success."