Mary White (Fianna Fail)

Having sat through the presentation all yesterday afternoon, it is important to convey the feeling that prevailed. Files are missing in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, which is a serious matter.

Last Friday in Dublin Castle the Taoiseach, Deputy Ahern, said that one of the priorities of the Irish Presidency will be driving the EU initiative on the reform of the United Nations. I said previously that we should have a debate on the reform of the United Nations. To me, the United Nations is a group of allies, but unfortunately the latest development in American imperialism of the current US Government is its declaration that it will not allow France, Germany and Russia to tender for contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq. The US Government is forbidding three members of the United Nations Security Council to tender for contracts worth some $18.6 million because they did not agree with its position on the war in Iraq.