Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I agree with Senator Boyle that this is not a contentious Bill. There is agreement for its enactment across the House.

I am glad that the Bill has finally being put on the Order Paper. It gives us a chance to fulfil our obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which was signed almost ten years ago. The Bill is a statement of Ireland's firm stance on the issue of nuclear weapons and their use anywhere in the world. Under the treaty every state will have to ensure that not only does it not carry out any nuclear test, but nowhere in its jurisdiction will tests be allowed. Every state which ratifies this treaty will also undertake not to participate in any way with the nuclear testing industry.

This is the 10th treaty controlling the use of weapons of mass destruction since 1963 and, in many ways, it is one of the most promising. Treaties such as this are a dire necessity following the race in the latter part of the 20th century to develop increasingly more efficient and deadly weapons which ultimately could have destroyed the human race.

The arms race embarked upon by the USSR, as it was then, and by the United States led to a simple choice between mutually assured destruction, MAD as it was known then, or the elimination of the weapons and banning of nuclear tests. Therefore, we welcome the introduction of this legislation.

As of April 2006, 176 countries had signed the treaty but only 132 had ratified it. Therefore, 44 countries have yet to ratify it. We have reached a point where even the USA along with Iran have signed the treaty, although they have not yet ratified it. India, Pakistan and Israel have not even signed it and North Korea withdrew from process. There is an impasse concerning some of these countries. Many countries do not want to be pressed by America, which up until now is probably the most experienced tester of nuclear weapons and the only country that has used them to kill people on two occasions in the last century.

It is possible that if America was to ratify the treaty and make a national law similar to what we are proposing here, that could help to encourage some of the other countries such as Israel, India, Pakistan and perhaps even Iran to do the same. Senator Boyle referred to Mr. Mordechai Vanunu and the work he did in Israel to expose its nuclear programme. It was worrying to read recent reports of potential nuclear strikes between Israel and Iran. That is a matter of great concern. Intermittently every few years we continue to hear about the potential for war between India and Pakistan. We are all very aware of the nuclear danger in these regions. If ratification of the treaty was expanded to include these countries, it would make the world a safer place.

The Bill also provides for the setting up of a monitoring commission to be based in Vienna, which will manage monitoring of any tests that may take place. We are not a member of the nuclear club, therefore we have got nothing to gain or lose on this island from signing the treaty. However, being a close neighbour of a nuclear power, it assures the world that we will not assist our neighbour in testing such weapons in any way. Since the first tests were carried out in 1945, more than 2,000 tests have taken place worldwide. The United States has been responsible for more than half of them. Among the other tests recorded, the USSR has completed 715 while China has completed 45. India and Pakistan have been head to head when it comes to showing their teeth, each of whom has tested six times each. Nuclear testing has also commenced in North Korea in recent years.

This treaty is a fine example of what we can achieve by working together to avoid nuclear conflict. Multilateral engagement is always preferable to confrontation, especially when something as deadly as nuclear weapons are involved. We are setting an excellent symbolic example to the world by taking the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty so seriously. We can only hope certain other countries take notice of this and follow our lead.