Dr. Karen Devine:

I thank the Deputy for his comment. I appreciate it. I do not know if it is possible, but on a point of information, I cited Senator Clonan on, for example, page 25 of my submission. He has a long and distinguished record as a UN peacekeeper. I did not go into that background when I cited him and have not gone into the background of anyone I have cited.

I will explain the logic of my comments about an unravelling. There could be a stateable case relating to the ratification of the Lisbon treaty by Ireland, which was done by the people under Article 6 of our Constitution and not by the Government per se. The members of the Government are our representatives but we are sovereign and the final decision-makers in matters of national policy. I argue that the triple lock is part of that ratification and if it is destroyed, the corollary is that the ratification of the treaty is under question. Ireland's ratification of the Lisbon treaty may be unravelled through a court case, for example, and the treaty can only come into existence when every member state has ratified it. If Ireland has not ratified it, or it has been de-ratified, the treaty has not come into force because there is a member state of that EU that has not ratified it. As a result, all of the legislation that has been passed - and, by the way, the Lisbon treaty was nicknamed in the European Parliament "the security and defence treaty" - does not have a legal basis because the Treaty of Lisbon, which is the primary legislation, enables this secondary legislation. That is the logic for what would happen legally. It would depend on the successful outcome of a court case but, as I say, there is a stateable case on many levels.