Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy. In regard to the referendum — Deputy Ó Snodaigh said there should be an EU wide referendum — to be honest, my party and the Government would be very much against a Europe wide referendum because, in effect, that would mean that a small country like Ireland might have one view and the wider view would prevail. In effect, it would be detrimental to the interests of small nations.

Deputy Costello asked about EU leaders coming to Ireland. Obviously a number of them are conscious of the fact that this is the only country holding a referendum. Many expressed surprise as to why we are having a referendum on the basis that Denmark made a decision which, in its parliament, got unanimous agreement even from some people who would normally be anti-EU agreements. There was not in any shape or form a substantial transfer of sovereignty to the EU and, therefore, they did not require a referendum. We had to explain to them the constitutional and legal constraints in regard to the necessity to have a referendum. It has been the strong view of the Government, of which I have been a member for a number of years, that any time we did have an issue like this we should always err on the side of caution and put it to the people. The Attorney General has already confirmed that there is a necessity for a referendum, based on the Crotty decision.

The Taoiseach invited Angela Merkel to come to Ireland. It is her turn to come to Ireland and she has expressed a desire to come. I believe it will be a bilateral meeting as it has more to do with our relationship on that basis with Germany, but her views on the treaty may well be part of that if she comes before the referendum takes place.

In regard to Kosovo, we are coming close to the end game. The Troika which held meetings for approximately 120 days could not square two diametrically opposed views between Serbia and Kosovo. I was in Kosovo four or five weeks ago. The Kosovars are firmly of the view that they will get independence in some shape or form. We have to deal with the reality of that and manage it as best we can in order to protect the citizens and ensure there is no conflagration, as there was not too long ago, but also on the basis of handing out to a country such as Serbia and Bosnia-Herzgovinia, and a number of others countries in that region because this is a regional problem, the prospect of entry into the EU in the long term. In other words, this has to be dealt with under the umbrella of the European perspective and that is the only way this issue will be sorted.

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