Dan Boyle (Green Party)

Sometimes this happens because of the early passage of business and it cannot be avoided.

On the motion, which is an all-party motion, the existence of the arms industry is morally suspect in itself. There is often a moral relativism in debating subjects of this nature. One of the ironies about the war in Iraq since 2003 is the pretext for beginning the war, namely, the belief in the existence of weapons of mass destruction, as though weapons which wreak less destruction are more morally acceptable. Most people on the planet would accept the morality of weapons is something we should strive to limit and prohibit wherever possible. The international debate, in which Ireland has participated, has concentrated on banning cluster munitions, the most pernicious, indiscriminate and most violent of weapons. This is a timely debate because it has been preceded by a media debate to which the Minister for Foreign Affairs has contributed.

Several articles in The Irish Times, the first by my friend and colleague, the former MEP for Leinster, Nuala Ahern, was followed by one today by the Minister. There was no real disagreement between the two articles. In her article Nuala Ahern went to great pains to stress the role the Minister has played in this debate and recognised the importance his party has given it. Whatever level of disagreement that existed between the two articles was only strategic in nature.

I am glad to note from the Minister's contribution that there will be further commitments to the introduction of legislation that will include a national ban on cluster bombs. This may seem like an act of moral relativism in that we do not produce cluster bombs but it is an important signal in helping to achieve international agreements of this nature.

If the forthcoming Dublin conference acts as the mechanism to bring about this agreement, Irish politics should be proud of the role the Minister and the Government have played and that should be applauded. As the Minister stated, it is a strong part of the programme for Government. As one who helped to negotiate the programme on behalf of the Green Party, I am pleased to see this provision has been included.

The Minister has highlighted the use of the Irish Aid programme to help the victims of cluster bombs as individuals and as members of their communities, which is laudable. However, dealing with the effects of the bombs after they have wreaked their havoc is not the best use of our aid programme. A possible success from the Dublin conference could be that the moneys from our aid programmes would be better directed.

On the argument whether legislation should be introduced before or after the Dublin conference, I accept what the Minister has said. It is standard practice that a convention is agreed upon, followed by legislation which has been accepted by several non-governmental organisations. One advantage to having legislation prior to a convention is that it might help inform agreement. It would put Ireland in a category with countries such as Austria, Belgium, Norway and Hungary.

Norway's position is interesting in several respects. One area in which we must ensure we are not compromised concerns our national investment programme. In the 29th Dáil I introduced a Private Members' Bill on ethical investment to require the National Pensions Reserve Fund to present to the Minister for Finance how ethical investment for the fund could be followed. It was not accepted at the time but the principles behind it need to be revisited. The United Nations' ethical guidelines on investment will not be sufficient as they are only guidelines and do not have the force of international law. I am encouraged the Minister has suggested there will be a prohibition on certain types of investment. A debate is needed at Cabinet level to enunciate those ethical investment principles further. I encourage the Minister to use the example of Norway in such discussions.

Norway has been a partner with Ireland in this process. The Dublin conference will build on the Oslo Declaration. Not only has Norway enacted legislation in banning cluster bomb production in its country, it has separate legislation regarding ethical funding guidelines for its national pension fund. I hope the Minister, with his Norwegian counterpart, will see how a common approach can be established. There is no dissension in the House on this issue. We must ensure there are no compromises in this area. The issue must be dealt with effectively, especially after the work done already in this area by the Minister and the Government.