Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I welcome the all-party motion on Zimbabwe but want to focus on human rights closer to home. Yesterday saw the publication of the Council of Europe's report on human rights in Ireland. It contained 34 recommendations for action by the Government. Senator Alex White referred to some of these areas, which include rights of travellers, access to education and rights of people with mental health issues.

A particular area of concern is extraordinary rendition. The report calls for a proper regime of inspection to be put in place at our airports. The Government has said it has assurances that everything is all right but I am concerned about those assurances because I recall from history that assurances were given at the time of the Vietnam War about bombings in Cambodia and Laos. More recently, assurances were given about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I would not take those assurances from the Government at face value.

During the negotiations for the current programme for Government Senator Boyle and the Green Party were pleased to say they expected the situation to improve. I have not seen any improvements and planes continue to take off and land at will. They will be half way toUzbekistan before they are inspected. We must put an inspection regime in place. Amnesty Ireland has called for one as has this most recent report. I ask for a debate to be held on this issue as soon as possible.