Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I join with calls to support the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs in helping to secure the release of Margaret Hassan. I know from speaking to people who work for Care International that she is a courageous and compassionate person. We met the organisation last year during an Oireachtas visit to Iraq. I hope that our comments and the work of the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs will assist in her release.

Some people have suggested that troops should walk away from Iraq. However, there is a great deal of turmoil and crisis there and for the troops to walk away, as they did after the 1991 Gulf War, would be a serious betrayal of the Iraqi people.