John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I am sharing time with Deputy Ó Snodaigh. I welcome the legislation and I hope that at some stage Bulgaria and Romania will join the European Union. In 1979 I went to Germany for the first time to earn money. I went there because, in the words of one Deputy, I believe Deputy Costello, Ireland was a basket case at that stage and it was possible to earn up to four times as much money in Germany. Many Irish people had the same aspiration. We went there and earned money. I subsequently put myself through college with that money. It was a very good experience.

It is interesting to look back on that period and consider how many Irish people remained in Germany. When migration patterns in Europe are analysed, it is clear that it does not resemble the United States of America, which probably relates to the greater cultural differences, language barriers etc. People in Europe emigrate for a period of time, do what they need to do and then return home. We will see that pattern with many people from the accession states, Poles, Latvians etc., coming here. We must respect them for coming here to try to better themselves — that is what it is about. I wish them all the best. I wish the Bulgarians and Romanians all the best because they are in the same situation as we were back in the 1970s.

It has always been assumed that the widening and deepening of the European Union was what the European citizen wanted. However, as we have seen from referendum results in France and the Netherlands, that is not necessarily the case. People have major concerns about the enlargement project, in particular the proposed accession of Turkey. I learnt this lesson recently when I appeared on a programme with the Turkish ambassador. I have never received so many phone calls about an issue, particularly from women who seem to be very concerned about the matter. I believe it will be a long time before Turkey will join the European Union. While in terms of diversity of the Union and building bridges with Islam, it would be good, it is a long way off and it may not be possible politically.

The Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, mentioned that enlargement may not have been the major factor in the defeats in France and the Netherlands. However, it certainly was an issue. The Minister of State referred to another issue, which is the perception among European citizens that they were alienated from the centre in Brussels, and that the Commission and other institutions had embraced the neo-liberal agenda.

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