Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

In this and subsequent debates over the coming weeks this party will seek to persuade the Government not to hold this referendum on 11 June and instead refer the matter to an all-party committee on the Constitution, set up for this purpose, to report by 1 September. This is the right course of action for four reasons. The Government's failure to consult with the parties in the House has created an adversarial approach which needs to be defused. The implications of the referendum for the Good Friday Agreement have caused concern to the political parties in Northern Ireland, which will damage the review process and confidence-building there. That the Government chose to consult with the British Government while keeping the political parties in Northern Ireland in the dark fuels further suspicion. Fine Gael will outline other possible ways to deal with the issue which deserve consideration and debate. My colleague, Deputy O'Keeffe, will develop these points in his contribution. It is regrettable that he must make them here and not in the context of all-party committee consideration.

Deputy Rabbitte referred to the sixth report of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution which recommended calm and measured debate on contentious issues, and the Government should heed that recommendation. That committee, chaired by Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Brian Lenihan, gave good advice. It recommended that measures be taken to ensure that a Bill to amend the Constitution is fully debated in the Dáil; that every Deputy and Senator should have an opportunity to express his or her views; and that where an issue is extensive and multi-faceted the Houses should consider setting up an all-party committee to prepare and publish a report. What could be more extensive and multi-faceted than the issue of citizenship, particularly given the implications for the Good Friday Agreement? We will try within the narrow time constraints imposed by the Government to have the type of constructive problem-solving dialogue which should have been conducted between the parties in recent months and attempt to turn the Government away from this unnecessarily rushed and potentially divisive referendum. Government Deputies and Senators have expressed disagreement with the date. The Tánaiste has stated that the decision to hold the referendum on 11 June was a judgment call. If so, it was the wrong call.

The Minister said this morning that it would be wrong to hold a contentious referendum in conjunction with the presidential election. Surely it is worse to hold it in conjunction with local elections and those for the European Parliament when approximately 2,000 candidates are standing, which may give rise to racist commentary at some point during the campaign?

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