Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and wish him well in his role as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs with responsibility for Overseas Development Aid. I also thank the Minister for his comprehensive presentation and outlining in detail the different aspects of the Bill.

The Bill is the result of one of the greatest contributions Ireland has made to international human rights and diplomacy since our country took its place on the world stage. When Ireland hosted more than 130 countries at the cluster munitions conference in Croke Park last May, few could have predicted the giant leap that would be taken to remove the scourge of one of the deadliest weapons the world has developed. In two short weeks Ireland convinced an unprecedented number of countries to help confine cluster bombs to the bin of history. The convention agreed in Dublin, which will be signed by states in Oslo next week, represents the first step in removing weapons that have caused decades of misery and continue to harm people today.

In the diplomatic and political language of this Bill we can easily forget the countless lives that have been affected. In Croke Park the victims of cluster bombs were given a key role and voice. Victims, non-governmental organisations and others were invited to the conference and were there to be heard and lobby for change. Their messages and stories, documented in the media worldwide, were key in securing a successful outcome. Whenever talks were deadlocked their stories were the spur to drive countries on.

Cluster munitions are small bombs, often the size of a tennis ball, which are dropped when a larger missile explodes in midair. They can litter a wide area and lie undiscovered long after a conflict is over. Frequently the long-forgotten bomblets are picked up by a child, farm labourer, hill walker or people who are passing and the results are devastating. In extreme cases they can be fatal and for many more they cause the loss of a limb or disfigurement. Some child victims of cluster bombs are injured by devices dropped in wars waged before they were born.

The International Committee of the Red Cross stated that we must stand by these victims to ban these landmines forever so that children can run free in the fields and go to school, and parents can till their land and draw water from their wells without fear of being blown up by cluster bombs or landmines. It is because of their stories that we should support this Bill. These bombs have left us nothing but a legacy of misery and suffering. The path of destruction they have caused stretches from Grimsby in England during the Second World War to Vietnam, Laos, Lebanon and, if reports are to be believed, as recently as last August, Georgia. They are indiscriminate, no one is safe and the danger often lingers for decades.

At the centre of the convention agreed at Croke Park is an immediate and unconditional ban on all cluster munitions which cause unacceptable harm to civilians. Each state signing up to the convention undertakes to never, in any circumstances, use, develop, produce, acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer cluster munitions. It is a wide-ranging international agreement. The convention has a number of important aspects. The definition of a cluster munition is comprehensive and the agreement is clear that stockpiles of bombs must be destroyed. There are also clear provisions on assistance for victims. I would like to see work progress in this area so we can ensure the maximum level of support is given to those whose lives have been devastated by bombs.

Ireland has spearheaded the international effort to outlaw these horrible weapons and is the vanguard of international efforts to rid the planet of them. I am assured by the Minister for Foreign Affairs that we are working even now to bring more countries around to our way of thinking and to join the international ban. The reaction has been very positive and although it is not possible to say how many governments will be represented at Oslo the signs are very encouraging.

What has been achieved to date has been remarkable but there are challenges ahead. There are still countries that remain to be convinced to take the leap to join the worldwide ban. They have yet to be convinced that cluster bombs are an unnecessary evil which must be permanently removed. Ireland must remain at the forefront of the efforts to convince these countries to come on-side. I pay tribute to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, his predecessor, Deputy Dermot Ahern and the many officials in his Department, as well as those in Irish embassies across the globe who worked tirelessly to bring us to this stage.

The Minister was present at the opening and the successful conclusion of the conference at Croke Park, while officials of the Department were on hand at all times to ensure the event was a success. Even as we debate the issue, the lobbying continues to ensure that as many countries as possible stand by the commitment they gave in Dublin and sign up to the convention in Oslo. Given the lead role we have taken, it is imperative Ireland is represented in Oslo on 3 December to become one of the first countries to sign the cluster munitions convention. Therefore, I encourage all my colleagues to support this important Bill.