Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

The legislation stems from our support for UN protocols arising from the events of 11 September 2001. Why has it taken two and a half years for the legislation to come before the House? The Minister of State, Deputy Browne, stated that it is urgent that this be dealt with in the context of the EU Presidency and of what happened recently in Madrid. The world was alerted to a whole new threat of global terrorism as a result of the events of 11 September 2001. Nobody will forget where they were or what they were doing when they first saw that extraordinary and incredible footage of the aeroplanes crashing into the World Trade Centre in New York. Those events heralded an era in which the world was effectively at war in the context of terrorism.

That was not the first act of terrorism by the al-Qaeda group. Other terrorist acts were previously perpetrated against US forces in the Middle East. The book recently published by Dick Clarke revealed that warnings were issued to US authorities that this group was planning a major terrorist attack in the US. However, that is in the past. We are now faced with the present and the prospect of a very different future.

Terrorism is now a reality. The events in Madrid showed us that it is also a reality in Europe. Nobody knows in what part of the world terrorists will next strike. We have had our own experience of terrorism so, unfortunately, we are familiar with the concept. In effect, that terrorism was limited to one part of the country and to Britain. In recent years the authorities in Britain have developed security technology to maintain protection against terrorism. This has allowed them to be pre-emptive, as we witnessed yesterday in the arrest of suspected terrorists. We do not know the full facts of the matter but that is how it appears. We are fortunate to live next door to a nation that is so well equipped to deal with this problem and that we have so much experience and a network of legislation to deal with terrorism here.

The global situation in regard to terrorism is entirely different from what it was in the past. This legislation is necessary and is part of our international obligation and duty to support the UN protocol. My party has no objection to Second Stage. However, we will tease out elements of the legislation and table amendments. It is broad-ranging and sweeping legislation which is sometimes necessary.

Senator Kenneally spoke about security and terrorism issues but we must remember there is a context for this. Terrorism is always intolerable and unacceptable. It must be eradicated, dealt with and always fought against by way of the most stringent measures possible. We must also remember that there is a political context in this regard. What we are currently looking at in terms of the international political scene is a context for global terrorism. As a member of the European Union primarily, and as a member of the global community, this country has a role to play and a responsibility in how we deal with the issue. We cannot sit on the fence or stand idly by and watch while events take place as if they have nothing to do with us. The Iraqi war had something to do with us. We are a member of the United Nations and that war took place without UN approval. As American writers have said, the Iraqi war was in itself an act of terrorism as were the events of 11 September 2001. We cannot get into which is worse as an act of terrorism. In standing for international law, which I hope this State will do, we must stand for the rule of law against terrorism because all we have is the rule of law. In this context we are talking about the rule of international law, by which I hope this nation will always stand.

We need to consider our relationship with the United States. We cannot accept everything it is doing because, as American commentators and writers say, there is a case to be made that the current US Administration is set on a course of action which is generating greater international terrorism and will continue to do so in terms of what is happening in the Middle East, particularly in Israel and Palestine. We are creating at least 100 years, if not more, of horrendous difficulty not just in that entire area but across the world. What happens in Palestine, Israel, Iraq and Afghanistan reverberates in Madrid and New York and I have no doubt in other places also.

This cannot be separated from what we are doing in this House today. We must be cognisant of the context in which we now operate. Given our membership of the European Union and our relationship with the United States, we must always take a stand for international law. We need to assess the ever changing complexities of international politics, particularly in the Middle East, Afghanistan and so on. We cannot ignore it because the world is now effectively at war. It is a war of terrorism which we never expected to happen. However, it is now with us and we need to deal with it. We cannot stand by and pretend it is just an issue of security and getting our legislation right. We must be active on the political stage also.

I look forward to Committee Stage and teasing out particular issues in the legislation.