Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

Countries like Ireland which have a long and historic tradition of friendliness and cultural ties with the people and Government of the US have a responsibility to be upfront and honest on this issue. I have said previously that I reject the Bush Administration's new approach to dealing with these matters. I refer to its blatant attempts to put to one side the legitimate concerns of many countries about the war on terrorism.

The great success of the US in the years after the Second World War was that it built a genuine multilateral approach to problems of this nature. The US and other countries helped to reconstruct Europe from the ashes of the Second World War, to establish the United Nations and to put in place an international code of law on the issues of human rights we are debating this evening. That code of law was fundamental to the development of a new world order after the Second World War. We should state honestly that there has been a reduction in such standards over the past seven years. All democrats who believe in an international order need to oppose that reduction strongly.

I understand that the Government is in a difficult position on this issue for economic, commercial and other reasons. We are far too slow to express to our friends in the US Administration that we have concerns like those which are outlined in this motion. Such concerns relate to many aspects of US policy in Iraq and other parts of the world over recent years.

We now have an extraordinary opportunity to bring the issue of Seanad reform to centre stage. We can show the relevance of this House by quickly coming to a conclusion on an investigative matter about which Irish people are concerned. The House should demonstrate that it can respond quickly to such issues rather than divvying them up among the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. Things that happen on Irish territory are matters for Irish sovereignty. That is the issue which is at the heart of this debate. We will be in dereliction of our duty if once again the Government fails to allow us to conduct an investigation of the type that is described in the motion tabled by Senator Norris and his colleagues.