Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Mooney for moving the amendment and for allowing me to intervene at this point. I apologise because I have an engagement later and must leave the debate early.

I welcome the opportunity to set out the principles that underlie our foreign policy. I have no grave objection to the motion as set out, but when I discussed the issue with my officials I and they felt that, as set down, the motion was somewhat bland and bald. I felt that including the words "a foreign policy based on the values of the Irish people which also protects and promotes Irish national interests" better reflected what our foreign policy is about. I believe any objective judge of our policy would affirm that in its conception and execution our policy is an ethical one, based firmly on the values of the Irish people and serving their interests.

Ethics is a system of moral principles which deals with judgments as to what constitutes good and bad conduct. However, one must also distinguish between intentions and outcomes. I make this point because having good intentions is not enough. We live in the real world and must, to the best of our ability, try to anticipate the outcome of our actions. Are we likely to make things better or worse or how do we maximise the chances of our good intentions having the desired effect?

Posing such questions does not mean surrendering to what is called the realist school of foreign policy, where simple, narrow self-interest dictates a state's actions. Far from it. However, it is to say that an ethical foreign policy is best advanced by an awareness of the environment in which we operate.

I believe Ireland has been successful in utilising its knowledge of the international system and has the ability to operate in the multilateral context to advance our principles and values. What are those principles and values? Foreign policy, like all our national policies, is based on the foundation laid out in Bunreacht na hÉireann. Article 5 defines what Ireland is, namely, a sovereign, independent, democratic state. Article 29, on Ireland's international relations, sets out the principles guiding our relations with other states. There we affirm our devotion to the ideal of peace and friendly co-operation among nations founded on international justice and morality. We affirm our adherence to the resolution of disputes by international arbitration or judicial determination and accept the principles of international law in the conduct of relations between states. Aside from its articulation of the principles underlying relations between states, Bunreacht na hÉireann affirms in Article 40 a series of rights that pertain to the individual, which it terms personal rights. Today, we would call them human rights.

Since 1937, a body of international law on human rights has developed here and Ireland has striven to ensure its universal application. Alongside support for the United Nations and international law, successive Governments have pursued a policy of military neutrality. The State has chosen not to enter into military alliances or a mutual defence pact with other countries. The amendment of the Constitution in 2002 to allow for the ratification of the Nice treaty precludes Ireland joining any EU common defence unless the people decide otherwise.

Every dispatch of a contingent of the Defence Forces abroad — whether UN, EU or NATO-led — is a sovereign decision of the Government and is subject to the requirements of the so-called triple-lock of Government decision, Dáil approval and UN authorisation.

The origins of our policy of military neutrality lie in our history as a State and in the particular circumstances of partition and have evolved as a key feature of our foreign relations. This policy has acquired particular value for the people as an expression of our ethical views on the use of military forces — that the deployment of military forces should be undertaken only within the framework of the UN Charter and with the approval of the United Nations.

That Ireland should articulate these principles and rights in our Constitution and legislation is no surprise given our history. As a small nation that fought against a larger one for its freedom, we value the principles of democracy, the rule of international law, collective security and the universal application of human rights. We also recognise that a world which as far as possible is organised on these lines is in the interests of small countries in particular.

The expression of these principles and values, or ethics, can take place only within a multilateral framework. That framework is provided by the United Nations. Ireland fully and profoundly supports the principles and values set out in the United Nations Charter. While I was honoured to act as one of the Secretary General's envoys in support of the UN reform process, I fully appreciate that being asked to undertake this role reflected the high standing of Ireland at the UN over many years and under many Governments. Acting within the parameters set out in the charter assures us of the ethical intent of the military actions undertaken on behalf of the international community by the United Nations. Ireland's long-standing support for UN peacekeeping is one of the most tangible expressions of our principles and values in foreign relations.

Since our first UN peacekeeping mission in 1958, our troops have performed more than 55,000 tours of duty on some 60 UN peace support operations worldwide. Defence Forces personnel have served throughout the world, notably in the Middle East, Africa, the former Yugoslavia and East Timor. Irish lives, unfortunately, have been lost in this service. To date, 85 members of the Defence Forces have given their lives in the cause of world peace.

The United Nations is not the only multilateral framework available as a means for Ireland to give expression to its principles and ideals. As a founder member of the Council of Europe, Ireland has consistently supported and encouraged its activities to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law. We attach particular importance to the promotion of human rights. The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms remains the essential reference point for the protection of human rights in Ireland and Europe as a whole. Ireland was also a founder member of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and is a keen supporter of its programmes on arms control, preventive diplomacy, human rights and election monitoring.

The European Union has also provided us with a platform to shape the international environment through the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The essential objectives of the CFSP very much reflect Ireland's values. Europe has learned from its own history the bitter lessons of conflict and mutual aggression and in its approach to the wider world seeks to use its weight in a constructive and peaceful way. While, naturally, decision-making in the CFSP involves compromise, I am absolutely satisfied that we have a much greater capacity to influence events within the Union than outside it and that our influence serves to mould an honourable and essentially ethical policy.

A key example of how we have utilised the multilateral framework in pursuit of the common good is our engagement with the issue of nuclear weapons. Ireland has sought to address this global challenge since we first joined the United Nations in the 1950s. Frank Aiken, the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, introduced a resolution in the UN General Assembly that eventually led to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, NPT, a decade later. It has become the most universal of all international instruments in the disarmament and non-proliferation area and remains the framework for further progress on this issue. Article 6 of the treaty contains the only multilateral legally binding commitment to nuclear disarmament from the nuclear weapon states. Ireland is in the vanguard of efforts to reinvigorate the NPT. I was gratified that the new Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, has also highlighted the importance of addressing the issue of weapons of mass destruction as a continuing threat to world peace and security.

We have taken a similarly vigorous approach to the codification and implementation of human rights norms. We believe profoundly in their universality and they are central to our foreign policy. Ireland has ratified the six core United Nations human rights conventions and regularly submits reports to the United Nations human rights mechanisms on the measures undertaken to implement these conventions. Later this week, in New York, Ireland will sign up to the two most recently adopted United Nations instruments, the UN Convention on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearances and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ireland played an active role in the negotiations leading to these conventions and fully supported their adoption, which represents a further strengthening of the international human rights framework.

Active participation in multilateral organisations such as the EU, UN and the Council of Europe provides an opportunity for Ireland to voice its concerns regarding human rights abuses. Through these organisations, international pressure can be brought to bear on those responsible for human rights violations. Some have suggested that the Government has not met its own standards of human rights in respect of allegations of extraordinary rendition through Ireland. These allegations have no basis in fact.