Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)

I will deal with the matter in two minutes. I expected us to have an adult and mature debate on the issues. I tried to be as constructive as possible in my earlier contribution but the Minister of State misrepresented my position. He spoke about being a little boy in short pants but he is behaving like one now in attempting to misrepresent my views and those of my party. I said in my earlier contribution that my party and I are strongly pro-Europe but that the actions of the Minister of State and of the Government in trying to bypass this House by introducing European directives and legislation by means of statutory instrument undermines this House and Irish law. We set out procedures which could be followed to safeguard the integrity of the House, but he is not prepared to deal with those positive proposals from this side of the House.

I said that I feared for the European Constitution and the referendum that may be held within the next two years. I fear for its passing because I believe the Minister of State's actions and those of the Government as well as what has been happening in this country in recent times raise grave doubts in people's minds. I referred earlier to the drift of jobs from west to east, the new member states and people's fears about the ongoing rush towards enlargement. I stated there would need to be time out, as they say in basketball, to reassess the ability of the European structures to accommodate the accessions that took place since 2004.

We should not lecture people by telling them that Europe is good for them but rather we should listen to the people's opinions and fears and try to address them. One issue of concern is the undercutting of salary and wage rates by people coming from the new member states. That is not the fault of the people coming into this country but rather of Fianna-Fáil led Governments for failing to have a decent inspectorate to deal with undercutting and the non-compliance with the minimum wage in many cases, of which the Minister of State and I are aware. All these issues raise concerns which will make things difficult. To top it all, the Minister of State is bypassing the Dáil with this type of legislation. There is a way around it which will keep the Opposition happy and alleviate people's fears. The Minister of State's response is to misrepresent our position and that is wrong. We asked for a full and frank discussion, but the debate must end at 4.45 p.m., which is not a full and frank discussion. We will be opposing this Bill.

See this speech in context