Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I commend the Minister of State on bringing the Bill to the House. As he is aware, my party has long been a supporter of the establishment of an international criminal court. We have espoused such a body since the issue was agreed in Rome. The establishment of the International Criminal Court is the most important development in international law since the founding of the United Nations.

Fine Gael tabled a number of amendments on Committee Stage, one of which related to the issue of war crimes. Ireland has a moral responsibility to see that the most heinous crimes do not go unpunished. We have already lived up to our moral responsibility with regard to torture and war crimes, but we must also meet the moral responsibility with regard to genocide and crimes against humanity. I am disappointed we did not seize the opportunity to include those crimes and act on them while introducing the Bill. However, we welcome its passage. While I am disappointed that some of our amendments were not accepted, we support the establishment of the International Criminal Court, which will be of tremendous benefit to all nations of the world. I commend the passage of the Bill.