Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The Taoiseach stated he will sign the EU reform treaty on 13 December. In doing so, he will have the support of the Labour Party and, as Deputy Kenny indicated, the Fine Gael Party. Do all the parties in government support the signing of the EU reform treaty considering that the leader of one of them was one of just 11 eurosceptics who signed the minority report at the European Convention?

I welcome the Taoiseach's statement that he will meet Opposition leaders to discuss the referendum. Will he discuss with us developing a strategy to disentangle the European referendum from the unpopularity of the Government in order that people will be focused on voting for or against the EU reform treaty as opposed to for or against the Government? Does the Taoiseach believe that the comments of Commissioner McCreevy are helpful in this context, bearing in mind that the Commissioner considered the rejection of the first Nice treaty hilarious and extolled its virtues at the time as an anti-establishment vote?

In the context of the summit in Lisbon, does the Taoiseach have a view on the proposal by President Sarkozy that a committee of wise men should be established to reflect on the future of the European Union in the period 2020 to 2030? Would it not be more useful to hold back on such an initiative until after the reform treaty has been ratified by all member states?

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