Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hope that I was clear at the outset when this matter was raised that this is not a sovereign matter. This is not about us losing our sovereignty, but about us choosing and deciding to pass legislation which would very much align us with what our other European colleagues are doing for the benefit of this country. The people of this country voted for the Lisbon treaty, very much aware of what the options are for this country when it comes to migration measures. We have the option to opt in. The opt-ins must be approved by democratically elected members of both Houses. It cannot be any clearer. There is no issue of it impacting our sovereignty. We have voted for and choose to opt in to these measures. As I said at the outset, there is nothing in any of these measures that should not, cannot, and will not benefit Ireland overall.