Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I am very pleased to participate in this very important debate on the future of Europe, and more particularly the future of the entire island of Ireland. The treaty is designed to ensure that the European Union will become more efficient and effective in carrying out its business and making decisions. Any good company, after 50 years in existence, will always update its organisational structures and the European Union is no different.

Since 1973 the Union has enlarged. It emerged first and foremost from the European Coal and Steel Community and then from the European Economic Community. In 1957, when the founding fathers established the European Economic Community, it did not comprise six large countries but three large countries and three small ones. These were the large countries of Italy, France, Germany and the small Benelux countries of Belgium, Luxembourg and Holland. The interests of the three small ones have always been protected, as have the interests of our own small country.

Key changes will be effected by the reform treaty. One welcome development will be the appointment of a President of the European Council. The President will co-ordinate the work of the EU leaders at European level. He or she will not have any power as the power will rest with the Council. A new High Representative will have responsibility for foreign affairs and security policy and will only be able to act with the agreement of the 27 member states of the Union.

The Council, representing the Governments of the Union, and the European Parliament, will have just 33 new powers and not over 100, as some are suggesting. These powers, by and large, will pertain to justice and home affairs issues. They will help the Union to tackle issues such as illicit drug trafficking into Europe. All of the 33 new powers will not necessarily pertain to Ireland because of our opt-out clause in respect of justice and home affairs.

National parliaments will be consulted on all new EU legislative proposals. This is a very welcome development and it will afford Members of the Oireachtas greater input into the development of the Union.

The treaty is to ensure that the Union will become more structured. It sets out how it will deal with the new political challenges, be it climate change, the protection of energy supplies or the tackling of illegal immigration. There is nothing hidden in the treaty. A more effective and efficient Union will further the development of the European economy, including that of Ireland. This in turn will help to implement the Lisbon strategy, which is designed to ensure the Union will become the most competitive body in the world by 2010. It is in our own best interest politically and economically to vote in favour of the treaty.

As an island economy, we have depended on and will depend on inward investment. One of our key selling points in attracting industry is that Ireland is at the heart of the European Union, punching above its weight, at the same time as being on the periphery. We attract companies that use Ireland as a gateway to the EU market of 500 million people. Locating here offers free access to a market for goods and services. I refer not only to inward investment but also to indigenous industry.

Companies from around the world want Ireland to be active and a leading and central member of the European Union. A "Yes" vote will ensure this. A "No" vote would send out the wrong message and investors globally would take the view that Ireland is moving away from the European project and establishing a more distant relationship with the Union.

There is no valid economic argument to vote against the treaty. When we joined the Union in 1973, the value of foreign direct investment was the equivalent of €16 million. In 2006 alone, we exported goods and services valued at over €56 billion to the other 26 member states without having to pay any tariffs. In 2007, 136,000 IDA Ireland jobs generated over €3 billion in corporation tax, helping our major spending programmes. It was suggested time and again that the higher the taxes, the more income we would have, but of course the opposite is the fact. We in this country have seen that the policy of lowering taxes, whether income tax, corporation tax or whatever, adopted by the Government over the past ten or 11 years has led to greater income to finance our various ambitious, yet realistic, plans.

When we joined the European Union in 1973 there were only 1 million people employed in this country. Now there are 2 million people employed in Ireland. Had we not joined the European Union, had we not played an integral part in the European Union, I venture to suggest that we would be well off that 2 million jobs mark.

Regardless of the part of the country from which we come, we all have witnessed the benefits of the single European currency, for consumers and businesses alike, with the elimination of the exchange rate risk. When I went to the European Parliament in 1974 to represent the constituency of Connacht-Ulster we had to carry various currencies with us. If I went through Northern Ireland, I needed sterling. Depending on where I was going, I needed currencies for Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg, whereas the introduction of the euro eliminated all those currencies in the best interests of the citizen and, more particularly, in the best interests of the economy of Europe.

It is only because we embraced globalisation that we achieved success. Today the most objective observers, even those who might be critical, would agree that we have a successful country, a strong economy, low unemployment, sound public finances and a major programme of investment. Of course we face challenges, but we have faced challenges in the past and we will face challenges in the future, and I believe we will overcome them.

The European Union is a cause for peace in Europe and, indeed, here on our island. When the founding fathers met in the early 1950s they took the view that Europe had been ravaged by wars dating back to the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, the First World War from 1914 to 1918 and the Second World War from 1939 to 1945. They took the view that they did not want successive generations of Europeans to experience this and arch enemies sat down and decided that they would strive to unite Europe. We are well on the way to achieving their objective to have a peaceful Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals.

Speaking of the importance of the peace process, the European Union has played a key role in helping the peace process in Ireland. The Single European Act removed the economic border in this country and that was one of the major steps in the overall peace process. The European Union has contributed €1.6 billion in support of the peace process in this country since 1985.

I remember well being in Europe when the cessation of violence was announced here. Jacques Delors, then President of the European Commission, stated that Europe would respond in a positive and pragmatic way, and he and Europe did that. The only vehicle that was available at that time was the International Fund for Ireland and, with unanimous approval from the European Parliament, Europe's contribution towards the International Fund for Ireland was immediately increased. That fund has created thousands of jobs with hundreds of projects on both sides of the Border.

Through the years of violence and division, European leaders and the institutions played a key role, sometimes behind the scenes, in encouraging a move towards peace and a shared future based on equality and fairness. The public face of the European Union in Northern Ireland and in the Border counties has been the EU peace programme. I was privileged to be a member of the European Parliament at that time representing the Border counties, when we had unanimous approval for funding towards the European Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, with 75% of those funds coming from the European Union and the other 25% coming from both Governments.

As one who comes from a Border county which has suffered economically, possibly more than any other county——

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