John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I join in the calls for a debate on Darfur, which is another case of genocide. We thought we would not see it happening again in this generation but we have already seen it in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda. We will see it again in Darfur. One could spend five hours driving across this country but it only takes five hours to fly to Darfur. It is important to bear in mind that the world is a global village and we should be debating these issues.

We are faced with the problem of nuclear proliferation with North Korea joining the nuclear nations and Iran about to do so. We have already seen terrorists use weapons of mass destruction, namely, aeroplanes filled with aviation fuel. There is no doubt that we are living in a more dangerous world but we in Ireland can and do contribute to ameliorating the situation.

I thank Senator Scanlon for providing us with the Department's clarification which was very worthwhile at the time.