Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for coming before the House earlier and I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Power, who is now present. Like Senator Norris and others, I congratulate the Department on the tremendous work it has done in bringing this matter to the point at which it currently stands.

This is an extremely important debate. Ignorance can be a great thing at times. I am completely ignorant as to what are landmines, cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines. The same probably goes for the majority of people in Ireland. We are so lucky we have no experience of these items. I presume the only individuals in the country who might have knowledge of them are members of the Defence Forces and perhaps a handful of other individuals. If one of these devices was placed in front of me, I would not have a clue with regard to what it was or what destruction it could do. However, I took the opportunity to investigate these munitions and the damage they can cause.

Cluster munitions are weapons deployed from the air by aircraft including fighters, bombers and helicopters. These weapons open in mid-air and scatter dozens or hundreds of smaller submunitions to the ground. Cluster munitions can be also deployed by being launched from artillery, rocket and missile systems on the ground. Submunitions released by air-dropped cluster bombs are most often called "bomblets", while those delivered from the ground are usually referred to as "grenades."

Cluster munitions are among the most controversial weapons used in modern warfare. They are what are known as area effect weapons and are designed not to target soldiers or armies but rather areas of land. The theory behind them is simple. They can be deployed from the air to remove an area of land from use by an enemy. Such an area of land will be left unsafe to travel through due to bomb craters and the possibility of unexploded ordnance. In practice, the tactical benefit they may produce is more than outweighed by the negative connotations attaching to them. Large quantities of unexploded cluster munitions may, like landmines, litter an area when a war has ended. It is often farmland owned by the poorest people in war-torn countries that is left covered with these munitions, many of which are the size of Coke cans and can cause the mass deaths of men, women and children.

The damage that can be done by cluster munitions is horrific. The footprint of a single cluster bomb can be as large as a football pitch. Fragments of exploded submunitions travel at high velocity. When they strike they set off people pressure waves within the body, which do horrific damage to soft tissue and organs. Even a single fragment can rupture the spleen or cause the intestines to explode. If a victim survives the accident, he or she may suffer from a variety of injuries including the loss of limbs, burns, puncture wounds, ruptured eardrums and blindness. As already stated, the majority of people in Ireland can count themselves lucky not to ever have come across munitions of this nature.

I have a number of questions for the Minister of State in regard to particular areas of the Bill. Section 17 provides for penalties to be imposed upon summary conviction and conviction on indictment of an offence under section 6 and that the maximum penalty for conviction on indictment is ten years imprisonment or a fine of €1 million or both. Will this provision apply where a person leaves a cluster bomb or grenade under a car, as has happened in Dublin during the past couple of years? Will such offence be covered by this provision? I believe it should and that it might encourage people to think twice about their actions in this regard.

The Minister stated that provision is made in the Bill for the use of cluster bombs in practice by the Defence Force and others, thus requiring a certain amount of cluster bombs to be manufactured. Should we not be seeking a total ban on cluster bombs given the damage they do? While we are endeavouring to do so through this Bill we are on the other hand stating they may be produced in some form for training and other purposes. There is a little ambiguity in this regard. We should be seeking to introduce a total ban on cluster bombs given the damage they do.

I am sure the people who manufacture cluster bombs must produce a particular amount as per their manufacturing process. Obviously, many of them will be put out of business as a result of this convention brought into place by many countries. Will these manufacturers be bought out or paid off? How is this aspect of the matter being dealt with? I believe this is an important issue given the significant amount of this type of armoury which manufacturers will have to dispose of one way or the other, perhaps to countries not signed up to the convention. Perhaps the Minister of State will clarify the position in regard to the manufacturing process in terms of how it is to be down-sized.