Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 245: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if there are specific agreements with the US, UK, France, Germany and Italy on combating terrorism, possibly providing for these countries to have bases on this State's territory or even to carry out policing operations independently. [3606/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland has not concluded any bilateral agreements on combating terrorism with the US, UK, France, Germany and Italy. It has, however, entered into a range of agreements, particularly in the context of the Council of Europe and the European Union, relating to the combating of terrorism or whose provisions may be used for counter-terrorism purposes.

Examples of such agreements include the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, the framework decision on the European arrest warrant and the framework decision on joint investigation teams.

Ireland also has a bilateral extradition treaty in force with the United States of America since 1983, which applies to all offences having a penalty of more than one year's imprisonment or where a sentence of four months or more remains to be served.

In addition, Ireland, Italy, France, Germany, UK and US are all party to the following 12 multilateral terrorism conventions: the convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against internationally protected persons, including diplomatic agents, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 14 December 1973; the international convention against the taking of hostages, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 17 December 1979; the international convention for the suppression of terrorist bombings, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 15 December 1997; the international convention for the suppression of the financing of terrorism, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1999; the convention on offences and certain other acts committed on board aircraft, signed at Tokyo on 14 September 1963; the convention for the suppression of unlawful seizure of aircraft, signed at the Hague on 16 December 1970; the convention for the suppression of unlawful acts against the safety of civil aviation, signed at Montreal on 23 September 1971; the convention on the physical protection of nuclear material, signed at Vienna on 3 March 1980; the protocol on the suppression of unlawful acts of violence at airports serving international civil aviation, supplementary to the convention for the suppression of unlawful acts against the safety of civil aviation, signed at Montreal on 24 February 1988; the convention for the suppression of unlawful acts against the safety of maritime navigation, agreed in Rome on 10 March 1988; the protocol for the suppression of unlawful acts against the safety of fixed platforms located on the continental shelf, agreed in Rome on 10 March 1988; and the convention on the marking of plastic explosives for the purpose of detection, signed at Montreal on 1 March 1991.

None of the above agreements or conventions provide for any of the state parties having bases on this State's territory or carrying out policing operations independently here.