It must be quite obvious to the Minister by now, in view of the long discussion that has taken place on this amendment, that there is considerable disquiet in the House about paragraph (c) of Section 2. I accept the fact that the Government must be in a position to take sudden and decisive action but as has been pointed out by other Deputies, any action that would be taken in this sphere will be political action. Therefore, the Minister must have the power but I suggest that paragraph (c) is badly drafted. The Minister will not be losing face in any way and he will be meeting the wishes of quite a few Deputies if he takes another look at the section. It is possible under this section that the entire Irish Army could be sent to the Congo independent of any political discussion whatever.
It has been pointed out by several speakers here, even by speakers in my own Party, that no Minister in his senses would ever take action like that. That may be so but our duty here as legislators is to see that proper legislation is passed and that legislation is binding on anybody who comes after us here. I do not know exactly —I am not a draftsman myself—how the Minister would meet the situation. I do not believe that paragraph (c) should be deleted altogether as the amendment suggests. Paragraph (c) is essential but some safeguard should be inserted. Some power in the hands of the Government is necessary but I do not think they should be allowed such wide powers entirely independent of political control. The Minister suggests that this matter can be dealt with by a motion in Dáil Éireann. He knows perfectly well that that is not possible because by the time that motion came before us the whole political situation in the Congo, which is what we are concerned with here, could be entirely and dramatically changed.
I do not know what has been agreed to among the Whips in regard to this Bill as to whether it is to go through in its entirely. I do not know if it is possible to postpone discussion on the section so that the Minister would have time to consider it again with his advisers. I have a certain amount of sympathy for the Minister because I believe the Taoiseach has directed him to get this Bill through as quickly as possible. I agree that this Bill is essential, that it should be passed as quickly as possible but there is no use in our pounding through legislation and the Minister trying to pound through legislation when obviously there is a considerable volume of opinion against paragraph (c) as it stands. If this paragraph stands it means that the Minister or the Government can send any number of troops to the Congo or anywhere else without any reference to Dáil Éireann.
I support any actions the Government are taking to fulfil their obligations as a member of the United Nations, but I am opposing these powers being given without any political control. It is all right for Dáil Éireann as a whole to take those decisions and I think we should defend our right to do that. I should not vote for the amendment which is for the deletion of the section as a whole but I would ask the Minister to try to meet the wishes of quite a few Deputies by taking another look at this.