Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

Perhaps I did not deal with this quite correctly at the previous Stage. The convention covers a whole range of things. The protocol deals specifically with what we are dealing with in the Bill. There will clearly be further protocols, and we will be returning to deal with those later, possibly by order. That will allow us to deal with some other interests. The purpose of the "space assets" provision is to deal with the commercial operation of satellites, which is part of the world in which we live today, and that will be increasingly the case. A considerable number of satellites are now launched by the private sector and, nowadays, even some smaller companies are able to finance this.