Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairperson for the clarification. I want the Bill to pass but to pass in such a way that it can actually be implemented. All speakers referred to aircraft flying through our airspace. We cannot see what is in our airspace. We cannot get up to our airspace and force rogue aircraft carrying munitions to land in Ireland in order to inspect what is in their fuselage. How can we pass legislation that is impossible to implement? There is an offer on the table from the Minister to work with Department officials to make a Bill that is passable and capable of being implemented. It would be wrong in every sense of the word to try to pass a Bill that cannot be implemented in any way.

That is my point. I do not disagree with any person who has spoken today. What is being done by Israel is absolutely inhumane. We pride ourselves on being a humane race of people and the fact is there are other countries where atrocities are happening every day of the week, and those atrocities are being fuelled by munitions that are transiting the globe. We cannot single out one country, as horrific and all as its actions are. We cannot do that. We, as a country, must protect all human beings. We must have respect for all life, not just the lives of Gazans but also those in south Lebanon and the West Bank and the Israelis who were killed by Hamas and Hezbollah. All those responsible for those lost lives are war criminals, every bloody one of them, and they should all be made to answer for their crimes. There are women and children being killed in other parts of the world by the same munitions, made by the same munitions manufacturers, as those used to kill people in Gaza.

We cannot control what flies through our airspace. Let us try to control what we can control. We can control our airports. I cannot talk about section 3 yet but I will note that there is a problem with inspections. I ask the Minister of State, before we move past Committee Stage, to ensure that his officials engage with the Civil Engagement Group to make the Bill work and be the flagship it should be for the rest of the world. Let us not allow a Bill to pass through because nobody is willing to speak against it purely because supporting it will look good in the newspapers tomorrow and purely because 300-odd people sent us emails and all of them will email me tomorrow wishing me to be damned to hell for what I am saying. We must be realistic about what we are doing. We have to look to bring through legislation that is enactable. We must be able to enforce legislation and there must be a series of penalties for breaching its provisions. I ask my colleagues to step back from the brink. Let us go back and redraft the Bill to ensure it covers all eventualities.