I invite the Minister to make his opening statement.
Marking of Plastic Explosives: Motion.
The terrorist attacks in the United States last year prompted an unprecedented international effort to co-ordinate action in the fight against terrorism. International and regional organisations have responded swiftly to this new challenge and have placed terrorism clearly on their agendas. Recognising that international terrorism constitutes a threat to international peace and security, the United Nations has taken the lead role in responding to that threat.
On 12 September 2001, one day after the attacks in the United States, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1368 condemning the attacks and calling on all states to work together to bring the perpetrators to justice and prevent and suppress international terrorism. On 28 September 2001, the Security Council adopted Resolution 1373 which imposes obligations on member states under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. It particularly emphasised measures which must be taken to combat the financing of terrorism.
The spread of terrorism poses a threat to the foundations of the United Nations and to the spirit of its charter. However, international action to fight terrorism began long before 11 September. Over the years the UN system, with the involvement of key international bodies such as the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, and the International Maritime Organisation, IMO, has played an important role in establishing a legal framework for the eradication of terrorism throughout the drafting of 12 anti-terrorist conventions and protocols. Ireland has already ratified five of the 12 international conventions, mainly dealing with aviation security. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is expected to publish a Bill before Christmas which would, subject to enactment, permit the Government to become party to four of the outstanding conventions, including the crucial 1999 Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
As part of the Government's legislative programme, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources is advancing work on a Bill to ratify two further conventions which relate to the safety of marine navigation and fixed platforms on the continental shelf. The remaining convention is that which is being considered at today's meeting, the Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Detection which was done at Montreal in 1991 under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation. Its main purposes are as follows: to require the marking of plastic explosives at the time of manufacture by the addition of a chemical additive to render them detectable; to prohibit the import and export of unmarked plastic explosives; and to require the destruction of commercial stocks of unmarked plastic explosives within three years and military stocks within 15 years after entry into force.
Following careful consideration, it has been established that primary legislation is not required to permit Ireland to accede to this convention. However, in accordance with Article 29.5.2° of Bunreacht na hÉireann, the Government seeks the approval of Dáil Éireann for the terms of the convention prior to ratification.
UN Security Council Resolution 1373, mandatory on all UN member states, calls on all member states to become parties as soon as possible to the relevant international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism. It is vital that Ireland joins the international community in giving concrete expression to its declared commitment to combat international terrorism. Adherence to international conventions such as this is an essential part of this process and I commend the convention to the committee.
I welcome the convention. We have some experience in this matter from the days before semtex when the Provisional IRA campaign of bombing was sustained by taking gelignite and TNT from county council quarries. Initiatives were taken here to mark explosives so that they were traceable and, to a large extent, this stopped the traffic.
Are there stores of plastic explosives in Ireland other than those held by the Provisional IRA? Has the Army a quantity and does it intend to act under this convention? Are there commercial organisations involved in mining, quarrying and ancillary activities that import explosives? I presume there is no manufacture of explosives in Ireland.
No.
Will the Minister tell us, if he has the information, from which countries we import explosives and which commercial firms do this, if any? Does the Army import and maintain a store of plastic explosives?
My understanding is that we do not have plastic explosives. Ireland already has strict laws on the possession and transfer of explosives and it is not considered necessary to enact further measures to comply with this convention.
The Deputy rightly mentions illegal supplies. Nothing in the convention would adversely affect the work of the decommissioning body and that body is not in breach of the convention. It is relevant to look at the domestic situation with regard to the convention.
The Deputy asked about legal sources and who are the importers.
Are plastic explosives used for commercial purposes in Ireland?
My information is that plastic explosives are not legally used here.
We have clarified that the convention does not apply with regard to manufacture because plastic explosives are not manufactured in Ireland. On importing military and other stocks, is the Minister of State saying there has not been any legal importation of plastic explosives into Ireland in the past five years? Are stocks in either military or civilian custody? I got the impression from the Minister of State's earlier response that we do not manufacture, import or stock plastic explosives. Therefore, we are going through a rather academic exercise. I would like the matter to be clarified fully.
That is a very pertinent question. Obviously, there are different types of explosive and my information is that we do not have plastic explosives. However, I will have the matter investigated further and I will report back to the committee. In the context of our having explosives, there would be very strict regulations on their transfer, use and so on. My officials tell me we do not have plastic explosives. I will come back to the committee if there is any further detailed information on the issue.
The essential point is whether the convention has any practical application as far as this country is concerned. Does semtex come within the provisions of the convention?
I understand it does.
What information is there on stocks of semtex on this island either legally or illegally? What use does one make of semtex or any other plastic explosive? What is the legal use for such explosives and what is our experience, if any, in that regard? We are talking here at a very academic level without any practical information on the implications for Ireland of our adopting this convention.
The Minister of State said he will try to get that information for the committee. Obviously we could have future legal imports.
I will elaborate on that point. I am aware we do not have legal explosives but are there any regulations in place in the event of a person importing explosives? Is there any legal mechanism for people to import plastic explosives? These may not be currently in the country but is there a mechanism in place whereby the Army or others might import them?
There are very strict controls on the importation or handling of explosives. The question then arises as to the extent plastic explosives are imported or likely to be used or where they might be used.
There are strict regulations in place. Because there are no plastic explosives used in this country does not mean we should not sign conventions. As I said earlier, this convention will require the marking of plastic explosives at the time of manufacture and the addition of a chemical to render them detectable. It is all being done in the context of 11 September. This will tighten up the whole international regime. As a democratic nation which is very involved in the European Union, we would be very happy and anxious to align ourselves with these best practices. It would prohibit the import and export of unmarked plastic explosives and require the destruction of commercial stocks of unmarked plastic explosives within certain conditions. Perhaps we are going down an academic route but I will have a further detailed examination carried out on the possibility of some type of plastic explosive being used. Obviously, there are different types of explosives and I will find that out for the committee. In the meantime, it is important to sign the convention and be on the side of EU countries which are trying to control this trade.
The committee would like to have a clear understanding and assurances in regard to the follow-up in relation to this matter.
It is important that one of the outstanding international conventions is being accepted. I welcome this and would not wish to delay it. I would like to make some points on the matter. The Minister of State said in his speech that the international conventions, one of which we are dealing with today, precede the events of last September. They have taken on an added urgency since then but they were in existence prior to that. They have evolved over a long period. We are quite exposed in international opinion because we ratified just five of the international conventions. On the occasion of the visit of the United States' representatives last year, one of the points raised was that we were taking on a strong position. We were members of the Security Council but we were very short on ratification.
That leads me to the second point which is that we would be in an immensely stronger moral position if we ratified the conventions, and I welcome this convention today. I believe, however, that all of them should have been put out to contract for drafting. That is not a criticism of the Minister of State or the Government, it is something which should have happened a long time ago. It is interesting that what we are dealing with today is not a requirement of the Constitution but a correct gesture and recognition of Article 29.5.2o. It illuminates the fact that we could have gone ahead and prepared these drafts. The difficulty may relate to the more progressive position of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the more conservative and dilatory position of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, which is why external intervention by way of contracting out the work would be welcome. What is very important in regard to the current discussion is that it has a moral and interpretative significance which goes beyond the practical.
My second point is that our position is weakened by non-ratification of the conventions. We are at the end of a year in which we held the Presidency of the Security Council of the United Nations. I have my own view on Resolution 1373 and the manner in which it was put through the Security Council, which exposed us. The committee should recommend to the Minister and the Government that contracting out the preparation of the necessary instruments should be considered so that they are not held up in a legislative logjam. The chairman's predecessor welcomed something we did approximately 40 years ago. We should avoid that.
Will the Department give us a breakdown of the conventions awaiting ratification? As Deputy Higgins said, conventions are being ratified all the time but the important ones are outstanding.
Yes.
There are a number of important outstanding matters which should be dealt with.
I have a list of them here. Apart from the convention under discussion today, Ireland has yet to become a party to the following six conventions: the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons Under Diplomatic Aegis, 1973; the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages, 1979; the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, 1997; the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, 1999; the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation, 1988; and the Protocols for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Fixed Platforms on the Continental Shelf, 1988.
The first four conventions listed will be provided for in the Bill to be published shortly by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The other two will be the subject of legislation which is being advanced by the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. I accept that we must move as quickly as possible. A specific suggestion has been made which I am happy to pass on to the Attorney General's office. Weight will be added to that if the committee agrees it.
The Deputy is correct. Ireland and Luxembourg are at the lower end with regard to ratifying conventions. Belgium and Germany are slightly better placed than us. Italy and Greece have ratified ten whereas Sweden and France have ratified 11. We have work to do.
There are two approaches: to contract out or to get somebody who is free to come here. That has worked reasonably successfully with regard to the Attorney General's office for somebody who comes for a year from New Zealand or Canada and wants to do some work of this kind. It is unacceptable that we cannot get work done on issues about which we are all agreed. We should be up-to-date on the international stage with clear beliefs.
I support the comments of Deputy Higgins and the Chairman. It is important that we get our house in order as the international war against terrorism continues and is likely to continue indefinitely. For a country that was in difficulty with terrorists, we have been remiss in not enshrining the various conventions into domestic law.
With regard to this convention and in terms of Ireland's position, it is important that the controls governing plastic explosives are fairly strong at present. Even explosives as minor as fireworks for Halloween can only be imported under licence. The signature of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is required to import such items which are looked at in detail. Anything of a stronger nature, verging on plastic explosive, comes under a very strict regime. I do not think that anything has been coming in commercially for a number of years.
There are, however, large amounts of semtex in the country and there are people who would be better informed than I about the quantities involved. Most of that semtex came through Libya and was manufactured in the old Czechoslovakia, particularly in the munitions factories in the Slovakian part of that country. One of the big problems was that semtex was difficult to detect. It does not smell or emit a gas.
The addition of a substance that would make explosives detectable would be of great benefit in combating terrorism. To put it simply, if the munitions factories in Slovakia had a chemical substance added to the semtex imported into Ireland it would have been detected, not only in the small quantities found in car-bombs and elsewhere where it was placed to do maximum damage, but also in the dumps where it now rests. All the attention to decommissioning and establishing the whereabouts of semtex would be academic because it would be detectable.
That is the importance of this. It is not the commercial movement of plastic explosives that is at issue, but the illegal importation of unmarked and undetectable explosives. This is an extremely important convention and we should take it on its merits and accept it. However, we need to push forward on this and I welcome the Minister of State's commitment that a Bill will be published before Christmas which will enshrine in Irish law four of these conventions. It is close enough to Christmas now and we all know how legislation slips and drifts. This committee will give every facility to the Department and the Minister in ratifying these conventions as they come in.
I thank the Deputy for his comments and for his strong support. I will convey his views to my colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and my officials are also present to take note of what is said. It can be more difficult when four conventions are taken together. They contain provisions which have to be examined to see if they are consistent with existing legislation. With titles such as the Convention Against the Taking of Hostages, I presume they are fairly straightforward but I take on board what has been said and appreciate the support given by members. I have given a commitment to return to the committee to provide specific details on the explosivesissue.
The committee was set up only three weeks ago and is anxious to deal with this. I agree with Deputy Noonan that we should agree these matters urgently. I do not wish to have a large backlog of material to which consideration has not been given and in respect of which the final work has not been done. The committee will give every assistance in that regard.
How is it proposed to make plastic explosives more detectable? Will they give off a foul odour? I am intrigued.
According to my information, a chemical additive will be used. I cannot say what the impact of that will be, but it is a vapour detection method.
There is a slow and constant release of odour. I thank Deputies for their contributions and for giving consideration to these matters. I thank the Minister and his officials for attending today.