Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is important legislation that the Minister of State has brought to the House and I wish to make a number of observations on it. As the Minister of State pointed out, there are two aspects to the Bill. I will start with the second one he mentioned, which is to enable us to ratify the 2005 amendment to the International Atomic Energy Agency Convention on the physical protection of nuclear material. That was a very important convention. The Minister of State did not provide in his address an explanation for why we are the second last of the 28 countries to ratify the convention, and that we needed urging from the other 26 EU countries that have already ratified it. That gives rise to questions. I note that in general we are slow to ratify various conventions we support. That seems to illustrate a lacuna in various Departments in terms of dealing with the conventions as we endorse and agree them and then move on with the necessary legislation so that they can be properly enacted and ratified. I suggest to the Minister of State that is something all Departments should consider. Could he elucidate for us in this instance how the situation arises, in particular given-----