Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Treacy. I oppose the establishment of the proposed committee on my account and not on behalf of the Government or anyone else. Suggestions were made that some Members on this side of the House are doing the Government's bidding. I came to my own decision on the proposed committee, as others did, when I considered its implications.

To establish such a committee is irrelevant, particularly in light of the existence of the Council of European and European Parliament committees which have Irish representation and are receiving the full co-operation of the Government. These committees will have much greater powers in getting information and intelligence-gathering because their remits are European-wide. What additional purpose would the proposed Irish committee serve? It will only fan the flames of the anti-American agenda. It will seek to ignite a debate on the rights and wrongs of the Iraq war and US intervention in the region.