asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he intends to take any action as a result of the disclosure to the United States Senate Intelligence Committee that the United States National Security Council representative, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North carried ten false Irish passports during his trip to Tehran last May; if any further response has been received from the United States authorities to earlier representations regarding reports of misuse of Irish passports by United States agents; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Misuse of Irish Passports by US Agents.
13.
The actions taken by the Irish authorities in response to the initial reports alleging the misuse of Irish passports by US personnel are set out in the reply given by the then Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Dáil on 27 November last. Since then our Embassies in Washington and Tehran have had further contacts with the US and Iranian authorities in the light of information which has emerged from official investigations, including the one referred to by the Deputy, under way in the United States.
I myself raised the matter with Secretary of State Shultz when I met him in Washington on 16 March in order to recall the grave concern of the Irish Government at the reports and our view that any misuse of Irish passports was totally unacceptable. The Secretary of State has accepted that position.
Despite our requests the Iranian authorities have not yet provided us with copies or details of the false passports allegedly used.
I accept the assurance given by the Minister that Secretary of State Shultz accepted our position but I should like to know if he admitted that the passports had been used.
I was not in the business of cross-examining Secretary of State Shultz.
Why not? Does that mean he has admitted that the passports were used?
He agreed fully with me and accepted our view that the matter should never have happened. In my view that is reasonable enough.
Did the Secretary of State accept that when the matter was raised previously he professed ignorance as to whether or not the passports had been used? Did he take any steps in the meantime to find out if they had been used and, if so, did he communicate the result of that investigation to the Minister?
The matter is still under investigation.
Did the Secretary of State say if he had been able to ascertain between November and March whether the passports had been used?
I have been informed that the matter is under investigation by the appropriate US authority.
The Minister, it appears, has not heard me correctly; perhaps his hearing is defective. The Minister told the House that the Secretary of State when contacted by me stated that he did not know if the passports had been used but accepted that the Irish Government would find the use of false Irish passports totally unacceptable. That occurred in November when the Secretary of State said that he would look into the matter. The Minister has told us that he raised the matter with the Secretary of State last week and I should like to know if he said that between November and March he had sought to clarify whether or not the passports had been used. Did he communicate to the Minister the result of his investigation?
He communicated to me that the matter was under investigation by the appropriate American authorities. The Secretary of State is not the appropriate American authority and I am sure the Deputy is aware of that.
Did the Secretary of State say if he had satisfied himself as to whether the passports were used? Did he give the Minister any indication that he had been able to satisfy himself between November and March that they had not been used, or otherwise?
I have told the Deputy that the Secretary of State informed me that the matter was still under investigation by the American authorities. I should like to point out that details about the passports used have not been obtained by us or the American authorities from the Iranian authorities which is a further complication.
Did the Secretary of State say if the results of any investigation in train in America regarding the passports had shown, or not shown, whether Irish passports were used?
Will the Minister give an assurance to the House that he will pursue this matter to the bitter end and will insist that the question of the passports will be resolved? If it is found that the passports were used in this manner, will the Minister insist on getting an apology from the US authorities and an assurance that such methods will not be used again?
That was the reason I raised the matter with the Secretary of State last week.