Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

In an ideal world and with all countries singing from the same hymn sheet the amendment would be acceptable. The Minister of State referred to the prospect of Irish troops coming under fire. For example, were Irish troops currently in Chad under attack and in need of help from another country that is not signed up to the convention, nobody here would say that we could choose who we wanted to defend our troops. That is the nub of the matter. As much as I would dislike a country to use cluster munitions, I would not care who helped our troops in a situation like that. For that reason mainly, I will go along with what the Minister stated. I understand the principled stand Senator Norris is taking but in a situation like that I could not go along with it.