Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

As always is the case in my party, they would have the supreme intelligence to know that it is good for the country.

On legal advice, the Taoiseach is being careful in that the reform treaty was only finally agreed last week. From the point of view of tying up some loose ends, he needs final confirmation from the Attorney General that his legal advice that it needs to be put to a referendum stands.

Obviously, ratification cannot take place until the treaty is signed in December. National parliaments would probably not start the ratification process until some time in January or later. I heard a representative of one country say that the parliament of that country would not ratify it until November 2008. Obviously, we will look closely at where our process needs to fit into this.

I can confirm that the opt-out would be subject to Oireachtas scrutiny in each case. In fact, we had an opt-in in the JHA area under the Treaty of Amsterdam which was discussed by the Cabinet recently. In the not too distant future the line Minister will bring the matter before the House. It was a very interesting discussion and was similar to the practical discussion we had on the JHA area. It did not relate to the justice area but to another, where under the Treaty of Amsterdam we had sought an opt-out. It was on the basis of whether we should opt in before the discussions on the issue were finalised or wait until after the regulation had been adopted and then decide whether we should opt in or out. The United Kingdom was in a similar position and what it was doing was of interest in the debate. The matter will be subject ot Oireachtas scrutiny and debate.

I welcome the moves towards greater Oireachtas scrutiny of EU matters. Of all Ministers, the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, and I were the two who always attended Oireachtas committee meetings — in the Minister of State's case, meetings of the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government — before attending the European Council. I always attended and was available for questioning before I attended European Council or GAERC meetings to have a discussion at Oireachtas level on the issues placed on the agenda.

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