Joning in expressions of concern about the need for greater security at Shannon Airport, Dr Maurice Hayes (Ind) said he believed the Garda had adequate power to provide this and it would be "profoundly politically wrong to turn it into a military matter".
Dr Hayes, a nominee of the Taoiseach to the Seanad, said he would deplore acts of vandalism and he thought that every effort had to be made to prevent them. But he would dissent from the idea that this could be done only by the Army. "I have lived too long in situations in which soldiers were asked to do the job of policemen. The only thing a soldier has that a policeman has not got is a gun. Do you want him to use that?"
The police had far better power. "It is a police thing. The guards should be given the resource, or made to use the resources they have got. My experience of police forces around the place, too, is they don't make all the use of the resources they have. But I think it's a policing matter and it would be profoundly politically wrong to turn it into a military matter," added Dr Hayes.
Mr David Norris (Ind) asked if pressure had been applied to the Government by the US or by any of its agencies, and if this pressure had been passed on by the Government to RTÉ. He wanted this information so the House would know what the situation was before members debated the Iraq issue.