David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is true.

I support the proposal made by Senator Quinn. I thought he was rather modest, along with my colleague Senator Barrett, and a little reticent in promoting the virtues of this Bill. It covers the very important subject of controlling drones. To a certain extent the genie has escaped from the bottle because there are so many of them. They are now a favourite toy at Christmas and one can get them for €100. I am concerned after hearing, on the wireless, a farmer from Tipperary saying that his 25 year old son - who also works on the farm - had seen a drone flying over the farm at a level of some 500 ft. at 9.30 p.m. It was obviously being used to survey the farm for the purpose of burglary. The drones are able to get details on the layout, the entrances, the exits and the whole plan of a farm. This is very intrusive and it should be controlled.

I also completely deprecate the use of drones in military warfare. It is one of the appalling aspects of President Obama's Administration that the use of drones has gone up by a factor of ten. What has happened to habeas corpus? What has happened to the right to a defence? What has happened to the right to confront one's accuser? What has happened to the right to be innocent until proven guilty? Some collection of civil service squirts in America sit in a basement somewhere and decide on the death of somebody. Very often there is additional fire and innocent civilians are killed. There might be one person with connections to al-Qaeda and 20 or 30 other people-----