Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

The spring Council meeting highlighted a number of serious concerns Sinn Féin has about the Government's conduct within the European Union, and its conduct of the EU Presidency. Owing to the Government's refusal once again to permit adequate time for debate, I will touch on only two of these.

The Government is rushing to conclude negotiations on a fundamentally flawed draft treaty in the interests of enhancing its prestige within the EU. In the process, it has sacrificed transparency and democratic accountability to the Irish electorate and has also abdicated its responsibility to ensure that the treaty protects Irish interests, the rights of all small nations, and the rights of neutral member states. It appears the Government's success at reviving the negotiations has been predicated primarily on compromise by the smaller states. The reported Irish compromise on the double majority will provide, at best, a dubious outcome for small states. It only reinforces the current unequal distribution of power among EU member states. This is a profound disappointment. However, it is not the first time the Government has sought favour from the EU power-broking states by siding with them to the detriment of those less powerful states that are in greater need of our alliance and advocacy.

It is unacceptable that fellow EU member states should know more about the Government's negotiating position on the draft treaty than the Irish electorate. While the Taoiseach denied press reports that article 40, the common defence provisions, have been agreed, my subsequent attempts to get clarification and a straight answer from two Ministers have met with a wall of silence.

While the Government claims it does not want to compromise its negotiating position, it does not have to be this way. Even the British Government has had courtesy and respect for its electorate — this is a rare occurrence — and has published a White Paper outlining its positions on the draft treaty to help conduct a proper debate. Despite calls from Sinn Féin and other Opposition parties, the Government has refused to do likewise on either count. What has the Government to hide? What is its negotiating position?

The Government's secretive behaviour since the draft was published last June does nothing to alleviate the growing fear among people that the Government is so committed to getting a deal — any deal — during the Presidency, that a vote in a referendum to ratify the agreement will not count if it goes against the Government position. Such doubts among the electorate about the integrity of the democratic process must not be allowed to fester. The Government owes it to the people to restore trust by making a public declaration that it will accept the will of the people on this treaty, regardless of the outcome.

I am concerned and disappointed that the EU appears to have learned nothing from the failure of its counter-terrorism policies to prevent the terrible tragedy in Madrid, and moreover that the Irish Presidency has failed to learn from and use its experience in working towards the resolution of the conflict on this island to show the necessary leadership to guide the EU to a more effective approach to security through targeting root causes of conflict. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is wrong when he says that civil liberties must be sacrificed for security. Even the new EU anti-terrorism chief has disagreed with him on this by saying that the EU must react by preserving the open and democratic character of our society.

I do not have time to expand on the outcome and implications of the Council meeting. I hope we will have ample time to discuss these issues when they are next discussed.

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