David Norris (Independent)

I disagree with my distinguished colleague, Senator Brian Hayes, on the notion that no one should set up an inquiry except the Government. It is quite possible for people to establish an inquiry, and for the public to decide.

I am somewhat concerned at moves on the part of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, in the other House, since someone has been named. I understood that the tradition of Parliament was that one did not name those who do not have an opportunity to defend themselves in this forum. I found replies on the radio by the person in question evasive and unsatisfactory. However, it was also suggested on several radio stations that the Minister had contacted what were effectively his employers, Atlantic Philanthropies, and made material from Garda sources available to them. That worries me, since, despite my deep suspicions regarding the Colombia three and all the ramifications, I am also concerned that proper procedures be followed on the basis that people are innocent until proven guilty.

Perhaps I might return to the question of Iraq. I hope that next week we will continue with the work in which the Leader has engaged, which is very important and serious. Unfortunately, it has been made clear by Lord Steyn, a former law lord who has just retired from that very senior position in Britain, that because members of the Government may well have been aware of what was going on in Britain, they could themselves be liable for prosecution in the International Criminal Court for war crimes. That worries me, since in this country there seems to be a deliberate policy of obfuscation. The report that we received yesterday from the British foreign affairs committee investigating the matter directly accuses the British Government of obfuscation and of ignoring what it categorically describes as a serious international crime committed by the US authorities.

Yesterday, however, the Taoiseach said that he must accept Condoleezza Rice's statement. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, said in Washington that he totally accepted it. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, incorrectly stated that Ireland had no power to board those aeroplanes. It is time that we ended this three monkeys attitude whereby one hears, sees and speaks no evil. It was said openly in this House on several occasions that the people in question, including President Bush, had lied. I find it astonishing that for a minor, consensual sexual indiscretion Mr. Clinton was impeached. Now we have a man embarking on the Third World War, and yet they are not impeaching Mr. Bush in the United States.