Brendan Kenneally (Fianna Fail)

Recently, I read a newspaper report on the activities of American and British intelligence agencies as they relate to Ireland. The matter was also brought to my attention by a constituent. Normally, I do not have much faith in what I read in many newspapers, but this matter may be worth exploring. According to the article, those intelligence agencies are vetting all telecommunications emanating from this country, including the landlines, mobile phones, faxes and emails of every citizen. This has come about apparently because of the Echelon agreement, which Ireland signed in 2000. I understand that somebody is taking a case to the European Court of Human Rights on this matter. Perhaps this issue could be explored further by the House. Will the Leader ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to clarify it?