Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

We are trying to deal with it. Perhaps we will have a meeting on the issue before the December Council meeting.

With regard to the opt-out proposal, I saw some references this morning that are not correct. The current position is that justice and home affairs issues are dealt with through unanimity. We are moving to a position of qualified majority voting, QMV. Most issues will create no difficulty for us and we will have a part in those discussions. Certain aspects are fundamental to our legal system, with some issues requiring the right to protect our national interest.

Areas such as police co-operation and many other areas are not affected by this. We do not intend to opt out on police co-operation and we will draft a declaration which will be part of the agreement, stating our position very clearly. There is a misunderstanding of the British position, but I am not here to speak about that. Our position will be set out in a clear declaration and there will be only limited areas on QMV. It is not a broad position.

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