Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

I am in total agreement with Deputy Gormley. The Minister of State, his party and the Government refuse to listen to the Green Party's alternative vision of what the European Union can and should be. Rather than listening to the Green Party's ideas and working towards a better version of the European Union, those who have been making the decisions and advancing this process like a juggernaut have chosen to run a steamroller over people's opinions.

It is no coincidence that more often than not, people in EU member states have chosen to say "No" when EU treaties and other EU matters have been submitted to them for their opinions. I refer to the Danish vote on the Maastricht treaty, the French and Danish votes on the proposed European constitution, the Swedish vote on the European currency, the United Kingdom's attitude to EU matters and this country's vote on the Nice treaty. The involvement of the general populace in such decisions tends to happen too late in the day for people to feel any identification with the matters under consideration. Voters do not have a sense of ownership of what the European Union is and what it could be.

The Government White Paper on the proposed European constitution has been made even more ridiculous by the events of the last week such as the IFA sugar protest in Mallow. Members of both Houses of the Oireachtas were briefed yesterday on the position being adopted by the European Commissioner, Mr. Mandelson, at the World Trade Organisation talks. It is likely that any future referendum on an EU treaty will not receive the substantial level of support from the farming community that similar proposals have received in the past. The current circumstances of such people are far removed from the promises which were made to them in the past when the benefits of EU membership were being sold to them.

Many of us involved in the environmental movement are disappointed that the opportunity to remove the EURATOM treaty, which is an element of the European Union that is a relic from a bygone age, was missed when the draft European constitution was being written. The Green Party has argued that ensuring once and for all that the EURATOM treaty does not have anything to do with the European Union is one of the reasons we need a better constitutional treaty and a better way of organising the Union. It has even been suggested the proposed constitution could insert a sunset clause in the EURATOM treaty if it cannot be removed immediately.

Our failure to take action in this regard has allowed the Prime Minister of our neighbouring jurisdiction, with which we have had perennial nuclear safety problems, to say the United Kingdom needs to renew and extend its nuclear programme if that country is to comply with greenhouse gas targets and become more environmentally friendly. Ireland could make a better case for its opposition to the United Kingdom's approach if there were no EURATOM treaty, if Ireland were not a party to the treaty or if Ireland were not making a financial contribution as a result of the treaty being in place. Will the Minister of State clarify in his contribution to this debate whether he accepts that we need to address the realities I have mentioned when considering the future of the European Union? Such changes are needed if we are to bring about a better Union.

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