Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I should like to thank my friend and colleague, Senator Wilson, for agreeing to share his time. I want to reiterate and echo all he has said as regards welcoming the Minister of State, Deputy Tony Killeen, and his officials. I congratulate the Minister of State, as well, on his new appointment. I extend my best wishes to my colleagues on all sides of the House, including the new Senators, some of whom took the opportunity to make their maiden speeches today, as Senator Wilson has indicated. I, too, hope we can continue to make our contributions in this House, post election, God willing.

The single greatest foreign policy disaster experienced by the United States in its recent history has been the Iraq war, as regards the impact it is having on the body politic in America, the manner in which it has divided society there and the continuing plummeting of President Bush in the opinion polls. He is now seen, perhaps, as the lamest of lame ducks as he enters the last 18 months of his presidency. It is not a great cause for celebration either for me or the vast majority of Irish people who have strong family, ethnic, social and commercial links with the United States.

It is probably important to put on record that this initiative as regards the PNR and the exchange of important data on passenger lists has nothing whatever to do with the Iraq war. These initiatives, as Senator Wilson has indicated, have all come from the 11 September 2001 disaster, the setting up of the Department of Homeland Security and the increasing pressure placed not only on the American Administration but on governments worldwide as a result of the increase in terrorist activities by al-Qaeda. Anybody with any doubts that there should be a continuing strengthening of security laws and improvements in the exchange of information between friendly governments cannot help but reflect on what happened in London at the weekend. We are so close to the United Kingdom and it is a frightening scenario that the UK is on severe high alert and can expect terrorist hits at any time, which could mean the loss of innocent lives. We must also remember our friends and colleagues in the British Government and parliamentary system as well as our relatives and friends living in the UK at this time.

I am particularly encouraged — I am grateful to one of the Minister of State's officials for confirming this — that data protection in the US is much stronger than in Europe. As Members will be aware, data protection legislation was initiated and passed in this House that has proven to be of great benefit to the consumer in ensuring that his rights and privacy are respected. I therefore welcome the Government's decision to make the interim agreement permanent in concert with its EU partners and following on the Commission's directive in this regard.

The measure will have no impact whatever on the overwhelming majority of passengers travelling to and from the United States. The information we have ordinarily been giving when filling out the various transit cards on our way to the United States is the information that will be stored. There are 19 issues encompassed by the measure. They have not been itemised by the Minister of State but there is no need to do so because they are all within the same data area. The reduction to 19 from 35, as listed in the original interim measure, is welcome.

I am heartened by the fact that the European Union held out very strongly against US pressure from the very beginning of this process to ensure the data it has agreed to exchange are pertinent and relevant. The storage time has been defined, although it has been increased to seven years, and a further eight years for relevant data. Having said that, I am considerably heartened by the fact that the US data protection measures are very consumer oriented. Regardless of one's political criticisms of the United States, one will agree it is a free, open and democratic society and may have the most impressive freedom of information legislation in the world. We might reflect on how we apply our own freedom of information measures when we are returned to the House. That is an issue for another day. I welcome the measure under discussion.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Tony Killeen. He has been appointed to a very challenging position but those of us who have known him over a long period can testify to the fact that he has good Clare bones in his body and will be quite capable of rising to all the many challenges that will face him over the years. I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for his courtesy and fairness in the Chair. Like all my colleagues in this House, I wish him every success in the forthcoming election.