Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Aire as ucht tairiscint a thabhairt dom freastal ar briefing a bhí ar siúl ar maidin. Ní raibh mé in ann freastal ar mar bhí mo mhac tinn. Is trua é nach raibh mé in ann dul go dtí an cruinniú sin mar go raibh ceisteanna agam. Ba chóir go mbeadh díospóireacht ceart sa Teach ar an gceist mór seo, ceann de na ceisteanna is mó lena bheidh an tír seo ag plé amach anseo.

Measaim nach dtuigeann an chuid is mó den phobal cad go díreach atá i gceist agus cad a bheidh romhainn. Tá súil agam go dtosnóidh an díospóireacht i gceart tar éis an seachtain seo, ní amháin istigh anseo ach lasmuigh chomh maith. Tá sé tábhachtach go dtuigeann an pobal cad go díreach ar a bhfuil siad ag caitheamh a vótaí nuair a dtagann an reafrainn. An bhfuil a fhios acu mar gheall ar na impleachtaí móra a leanfaidh an athrú suntasach atá in ann don tír seo agus don Aontas Eorpach má ghlacaimid leis an conradh seo? Tá mé ag caint mar gheall ar an mbunreacht, mar a bhí sé luaite ar dtús nuair a rinne an Aontas Eorpach iarracht an cáipéis seo a chuir le chéile agus a chuir faoin ár bhráid. Bhí an t-ádh linn, i bealach amháin, nár cuireadh an conradh os ár gcomhair sa chruth ina raibh sé roimhe seo — measaim go mbeadh scoilt mór sa tír dá réir. Tá sé soiléir, ó meon na páirtithe eile sa Teach seo, go bhfuil an scoilt sin fós le teacht. Tá an cumadh ar go bhfuil an cuid is mó de na páirtithe — is oth liom go bhfuil an Comhaontas Glas ina measc — chun glacadh leis an gconradh nua. Shíl mé go raibh cnámh droma níos láidre ag muintir an Comhaontas Glas agus go mbeidís sásta seasamh ar na prionsabail a luaigh siad go dtí seo, nuair a bhíodar i gcoinne conarthaí Eorpach a bhí ag cuir bac ar ár gcearta, ár flaitheas agus, go háirithe, ar neodrachas an tír seo.

Later this week, leaders from across the European Union will meet to discuss an issue of major importance to this country. The vast majority of people are probably not aware of the impending meeting or the subject under discussion. While cynics will argue that people could not care less about the European Union reform treaty, I urge members of the public to listen to the debate, find out what precisely is being discussed in their names and participate in debates on the treaty in the months ahead.

It is unacceptable that the House has been given such a brief opportunity to discuss the reform treaty and that this discussion has been arranged in the form of statements, rather than a debate. The Oireachtas should have debated this issue before representatives of the State travelled to Lisbon to agree a document which would have major implications for this country. Last week on "Prime Time", the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Brian Lenihan, stated that people would not tolerate any further diminution of the State's sovereignty. This is exactly what his Government is rushing to sign up to at the Intergovernmental Conference later this week. Much wider public debate of these issues and much greater scrutiny of the European Union is required. The Government needs to be held to account, not dragged along on the coat tails of European federalists. It must stand up for the interests of this island because the issues being debated will set the parameters for its future.

Sinn Féin is neither a Europhile nor Eurosceptic party. We favour close co-operation among European states and modern, accountable and democratic institutions. We approach each issue and treaty on the basis of whether it is in Ireland's interest. Our decisions to support or reject, to say "Yes" or "No", are based on what we believe to be in the national interest.

Ireland has a constructive role to play on the international and European stages. Our experience of colonisation, emigration, immigration, poverty and war, combined with our rich cultural experiences and achievements and the recent contradictory and currently declining economic success, place us in a unique position to understand many of the issues affecting the world.

Ba chóir go mbeadh Éire ina náisiún nua-aoiseach agus forásach ionas gur féidir linn áit a ghlacadh san Aontas Eorpach atá oscailte agus daonlathach. Ba cheart dúinn ról gníomhach a ghlacadh i gcomhphairtíocht leis na náisiún eile atá ag forbairt domhain níos suaimhneach, níos cothrom agus níos inbhuanaithe ina bhfuil an síocháin lárnach. I 2004, tar éis do Comhairle na hEorpa glacadh leis an dréacht-chonradh a bhí chun bunreacht na hEorpa a bhunú, rinne Sinn Féin iarracht ár dearcadh do todhchaí na hEorpa a leagain amach, mar aon lenár buarthaí faoin dréacht sin.

We stated we wanted to play a positive part in building an independent Ireland of equals in a European Union of equals, one which respects and promotes national, collective and individual rights and is economically and socially just, as opposed to another economic superpower. We sought a demilitarised, nuclear free, globally responsible and fair trading European Union which leads the way on reaching the millennium development goals for halving global poverty by 2015. We argued that the draft constitution would move the EU in the opposite direction to these demands; lay the legal foundations for a federal Europe; deepen the democratic deficit; increase the powers of the European Council and European Commission; undermine national sovereignty, national parliaments and the rights of citizens; end neutrality for Ireland and other member states; promote militarisation; create a single foreign policy and defence policy and an EU Foreign Minister; promote the centralisation of economic control in the hands of the Council and Commission and an economic model that would deepen existing levels of poverty and social exclusion within the EU; undermine the ability of member states to provide public services; and promote policies on the developing world that would deepen global insecurity, inequality, poverty and instability. Sinn Féin also argued that the Charter of Fundamental Rights provided no new rights protection for citizens of member states or mechanisms for ensuring compliance and would do nothing to promote human rights or equality throughout the EU.

In 2004, the electorates of France and the Netherlands decisively rejected the draft constitution in two separate referenda. That these founding members of the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the European Union, both of which are often cited as the most European of member states, rejected the treaty was a clear indication that there was something fundamentally wrong, not only with the manner in which the treaty was presented but also with its contents. Many opponents of the treaty in France and the Netherlands argued that it was not in their national interests or in the interests of the EU.

Rather than respect the democratic outcome of these referenda, the European Council and Commission have proceeded to produce a new treaty, almost identical to the constitution, in the hope that this time it will be ratified throughout the member states, mar a tharla anseo tar éis an chéad reifreann ar chonradh Nice. Dhiúltaigh an pobal an reifreann i 2001, ach níor ghlac an Rialtas freagra daonlathach an phobal agus bhí reafrainn eile againn i 2002. Tá Comhairle na hEorpa agus an Coimisiún ag brú an conradh céanna tríd. An uair seo, ní bheidh guth muintir na Fraince nó na hIsiltíre le chloisint — ní bheidh aon reafrainn sna tíortha sin. Is droch-rud é go mbeidh an focal scoir ag na bparlaimintí ann. Cloisfear glór na nOllanaigh agus na bhFrancaigh amach anseo i vótaí na reafrainn eile, nó fiú i vótaí parlaimintí na tíortha sin.

This week the European Council will consider and, possibly, agree the final text of the reform treaty, but despite some slight textual changes, its substance remains the same as its predecessor. Following the summit, I will carefully examine the text in case there are changes that may alter my opinion of the treaty, but the current indicators are that it will have much the same impact as the constitutional treaty that was to be put to us in 2004 or 2005.

Sinn Féin has a number of serious concerns with the draft treaty. In its current form, it is impossible for Sinn Féin and those who believe in the national interest, protecting Irish jobs and our sovereignty and neutrality to support it. It is incumbent on the Government delegation to address these issues in Lisbon if the treaty is to have any benefit for the people of Ireland or the European Union as a whole.

Like its predecessor, the draft reform treaty will serve to deepen the democratic deficit between citizens of member states and the decision-making centres of the European Union. More powers will be transferred from national to federal level, as admitted by the Minister for Foreign Affairs when he listed the European Union's new competences, to which I will revert. More decisions will be taken by qualified majority voting — the formula for QMV will be significantly altered, reducing the power of smaller nations — while no significant improvements in terms of transparency or accountability are contained within the text.

The Minister stated:

The reform treaty introduces a small number of new areas of EU competence. These include tourism, energy, civil protection, humanitarian assistance, intellectual property rights, space policy, administrative co-operation and sport.

Space policy is not a significant matter for the State, but it may be in the future.

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