David Norris (Independent)

I welcome the fact that the Leader of the House, Senator Cummins, has made arrangements for us to speak extensively about the late Brian Lenihan. I was at the funeral and found it very moving. I knew him from his days in Trinity College. He was a brilliant student. I think Brian Lenihan would be very glad that we are meeting here today and that we did not cancel our business. Brian Lenihan would have said "Go on, do your work, keep going". I hope to have an opportunity to speak about him tomorrow.

I would like to raise the plight of children in Iraq. I have visited the hospital for sick children in Iraq. I was able to bring in some much-needed drugs. At that time, a UN embargo prevented painkilling drugs and drugs like penicillin from being brought in. I am worried about an issue that has been raised by a number of Senators in this House. I refer to the use of depleted uranium weapons during the war in Iraq, which particularly affected the area around Basra. Will the Leader arrange a general debate on the subject of depleted uranium? The use of such weapons is a cause of considerable concern to the medical authorities, especially in the children's hospital in Basra. Although I have visited the children's hospital in Baghdad, I have not visited the hospital in Basra. The hospitals in question continue to lack vital machinery and medical supplies.

The statistics show that Iraq has experienced an extraordinary increase in diseases that are perfectly treatable in the west. In addition, it has high rates of leukaemia, stillbirth, miscarriage and deformities that are not unlike those encountered after the Chernobyl incident. Senior staff have made it quite clear that their informed scientific and medical opinion is that many of these conditions are the result of the use of chemical weapons, including depleted uranium. It is possible to determine this. One of the reasons the use of such weapons has not been outlawed is that some countries believe there is no proven link. The medical staff in Iraq say they would be in a position to prove there is a link if they had the facilities to perform biopsies and analyse tissue and urine samples. The Dean of Basra medical college, Professor Thamer Hamdan, who is the senior person responsible, has said:

We have little doubt that [depleted uranium] is linked to the rise in cancer and deformities. We're also seeing a rise in infertility in men and women, which is a concern.

This country played an important role in establishing medical facilities, for example through the Parc development. The Royal College of Surgeons helped to established a hospital. Irish nurses and doctors worked there.

We have a direct historic interest there and it is a great shame that we allow children to be treated in this way. It is the same as debates that a number of Senators raised in the House about the fate of Roma gypsy children who have been parked for the past ten years on top of a toxic dump and who now have the highest levels of lead and mercury in their system ever recorded. I respectfully ask the Leader to give time for a debate on this issue.