Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I would like to start by describing the dangerous position that exists in Ireland in terms of our attitude to the European Union. We are on the brink of becoming a net contributor and people are beginning to get anxious about the implications and question reflectively anything coming from the European Union. We are as wedded to it as we used to be because by 2013, the next round of financial perspectives, we know we will be in the position of having to contribute to the European Union for the first time.

The other issue relates to agricultural subsidies and support for Irish farmers and is beginning to cause the crystallisation of people's views. If there was a referendum on any issue in respect of the European Union, for example, on the constitution, we would not have the same core support as we had for the European Union. There is also the great bogey man that people raise all the time, the issue of immigration from the accession states and the future accession states of Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. These are the reasons we are at a cross-roads in regard to our relationship with the European Union.

As politicians and leaders it is our responsibility to take a stand on where we think we should be in regard to the European Union and to try to encourage people to think along those lines and not to appeal to their more baser instincts. The phrase "race to the bottom" has become misunderstood. It means nothing to many. It is the kind of jargon that is used to feed into people's fears. Frequently it is stated that people are prisoners in their own homes in respect of crime. Anybody who uses that kind of jargon does not know what they are talking about. It is clear they are appealing to base instincts. Similarly, anybody who uses the phrase "race to the bottom" in respect of these issues is equally using jargon and does not know what he or she is talking about.

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