Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Has the Taoiseach made up his mind on when the referendum will be held? Will it be held before next summer or after next summer? Will the Forum on Europe be properly resourced? There needs to be a real intent to have a political dialogue about this because it is fundamental to the future of Ireland and Europe.

The reason given for the non-inclusion of the charter in the treaty is that it will make the treaty too bulky. Was any other reason advanced? There are thousands of European documents that are very extensive, some of them containing 50,000 pages. Was the Taoiseach happy with the compromise with Poland on the voting issue? At the European People's Party meeting which I attended the day before the Heads of Government meeting, there was quite an amount of strident comment about the position adopted by Poland in its claim for extra voting facilities. The Poles felt they were being steamrolled by other countries. What was Ireland's view on that and is the Taoiseach happy with the resolution of the issue?

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