Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

This has been our Government's constant position since the existence of this practice was first revealed. This has been made clear to the US authorities on numerous occasions, including at the very highest levels. I welcome the finding implicit in the report of the TDIP committee that no prisoners were transferred through Irish territory, which thereby vindicates the Government's policy of early and proactive engagement with the US authorities on the matter, and full co-operation with the Europe-wide investigations of both the Council of Europe — to which Senator Mooney has already alluded — and the European Parliament. In furtherance of this policy, my colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, was one of only two foreign ministers of 27 member states, to agree to attend the European Parliament committee's proceedings. We welcome the warm acknowledgement of his presence contained in the European Parliament committee's report. The Minister was the first to raise the issue bilaterally with the US, and got a clear categoric assurance from it that no extraordinary rendition had taken place through Ireland. He was the first to raise the matter at EU level, following which the President of the Council formally took up the issue with the US authorities. He was also the first to call for the reform of the Chicago convention.

From the outset, this Government's clear and consistent objective has been to ensure Irish territory is not used for the illegal transfer of prisoners in this manner. Since 2004 when the first allegations were made, thanks to the swift, decisive action of our Government, we have been in an unparalleled position with respect to the unqualified, categorical assurances that we have received from the US authorities on this matter, both in terms of their specificity and of the level at which they were given. Senators will recall that the United States authorities have not issued similar blanket assurances to most other member states.

Some have asked the reason the Government does not introduce a policy of random searches of aircraft through Irish territory, but this would be only a cosmetic exercise. In Ireland's case, I understand from our Department of Transport that, depending on the season, there are between 750 and 1,750 movements of private aircraft through Irish airports each month. Among these aircraft, those said to have been involved in extraordinary rendition missions, have been identified only months or even years after they have participated in these missions. Their registration numbers have often been changed.