Mary Henry (Independent)

At the end of the debate on the transfer of tried and sentenced persons on 23 June last, I asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he had any knowledge of untried and unsentenced persons transiting through Shannon Airport. The Minister said that while he did not, if such people were transiting through the airport, they would be subject to the Constitution. He said I should contact him if I had any further news on the issue. I am sure some Members read an article by Fintan O'Toole in The Irish Times on 28 September in which he detailed the activities of a Gulfstream jet which takes people from Kuwait, Egypt, Pakistan and so forth to Guantanamo Bay. The article stated that the aircraft has been seen at Shannon Airport, a contention corroborated by subsequent letters to the newspaper.

Kofi Annan has said the war in Iraq is illegal and the courts in the United States of America have ruled that the detention of persons from that part of the world in Guantanamo Bay is illegal also. To avoid involving us in any illegality, which I am sure the Government would wish to do, I ask the Leader to organise a debate with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform on this topic.

A ship bearing plutonium has just arrived in France and we were very careful to ensure it did not enter Irish territorial waters. While I am aware this House has no influence on the progress of legislation through the other House, perhaps the Minister would give the new Chief Whip a little nudge to ensure the Law of the Sea (Repression of Piracy) Bill 2001 which passed through this House three years ago, is addressed. That legislation is extremely important in the context of attacks by terrorists on such ships.