Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

The European Union is the second greatest achievement of politicians in the history of the world, the first being democracy. The major contribution has been peace in Europe. When one considers the history of Europe, one can see how it devastated itself, century after century, for the past 1,000 years. Two world wars took place in the last century and 60 million people were killed in the second one. There now is peace between the nations of the European Union and for more than 60 years there has been no war between those nations. I refer to the insistence on the rule of law, human rights, civil rights and respect for human dignity. It is always important to remember such features when discussing the European Union because people seem to stress the importance of the economic and social benefits for the citizens of Europe, which of course are of fundamental importance.

Ireland always has been a good European country and the Irish always have been great Europeans. This extends as far back as the fifth and sixth centuries, when we sent our highly learned scholars abroad to establish centres of learning throughout mainland Europe, where they flourished for centuries. In recent days, colleagues in this House have referred to numerous incidences of close links between Ireland and Europe through the centuries. Ireland joined the European Union in 1973. We struggled for 800 years to secure our sovereignty and, having enjoyed it for 50 years, we sacrificed a little of it to become members of the European Union. However, in so doing we enhanced our sovereignty because for a country of 4 million people, we play a role that is out of all proportion to our size on the world stage and this relates closely to our membership of the European Union.

Why should we ratify the Lisbon treaty? First, the Lisbon treaty contains little when compared to, for example, the previous treaties such as the Single European Act or the Maastricht, Amsterdam or Nice treaties. Its main purpose is to make the European Union more manageable. The same structures manage the European Union today as obtained in 1953, when there were only six member states, as opposed to the present total of 27. The three institutions that drive the European Union are the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council of Ministers. The role of the European Parliament will be enhanced in respect of input into legislation and policy for the member states and citizens of Europe. Membership of the Commission has been reduced from 27 to 18 and it is important to remember this measure is not new to this treaty, because we already agreed in the Nice treaty to reduce the number of Commissioners.

An important point for the Irish people is that we will have equality with all other member states. Although our population is only 4 million people, we will have a Commissioner on exactly the same terms as Germany, with a population of 80 million people, and all the other member states of the European Union. Moreover, the five bigger states, namely, Germany, France, Italy, Britain and Spain, had two Commissioners until 2004. However, they will only have one Commissioner, in exactly the same way as Ireland, that is, in every 15-year cycle there will be a period during which member states will not have a Commissioner.

Qualified majority voting already exists and will be increased to combat certain areas such as crime and global climate change. It is of benefit to have 480 million people represented while addressing these issues, rather than trying to address them on our own. An important aspect of the new treaty is that it makes no change to the position on taxation. We will continue, as will the other member states, to implement our own taxation structures howsoever we wish in our own country. It is disingenuous of people to suggest otherwise as the treaty does not change our way of dealing with taxation in this State.

The same applies to defence and section 15 of the Bill continues the prohibition on Irish involvement in a European Union common defence. We now have five different legislative provisions to ensure we cannot join a common EU defence. The most important of these is the requirement on the part of the Government to get the people's opinion through a referendum before signing up to a common defence policy. Our neutrality is completely protected in this treaty, as it has been in every other treaty since we joined the EEC in 1973. It is interesting that the people who oppose the present treaty came up with the same chestnuts in every previous referendum. None of the predictions they made in the past has come true and they are certainly wide of the mark on this occasion.

The same applies to socio-moral issues, in which regard we have total control of our own destiny. The treaty will give more power to the Oireachtas in terms of input into policy and preparation of legislation. The Charter of Fundamental Rights, which is very important to the citizens of Europe, will be enshrined in the Lisbon treaty.

Ireland has benefited both economically and politically from the European Union. The greatest benefit is probably our membership of a market of 480 million people, which not only has been an advantage to farmers and the agricultural economy in general but has also made us attractive to foreign direct investment. The number of people working in Ireland has doubled since our accession to the EEC, with an additional 1 million people in employment in the past 20 years alone. Per capita gross domestic product has increased from 60% of the European average in 1973 to 143% today. In the agricultural sector, as the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has pointed out, €41 billion has been paid out through the Common Agricultural Policy to date and a further €12 billion will be paid between now and 2013. Furthermore, Structural Funds and regional funds have totalled €17 billion. Therefore, we have greatly benefited as a nation.

Ireland is the only member state out of 27 which will hold a referendum to allow people to decide on the Lisbon treaty. Other states are ratifying the treaty through their parliaments. It is interesting that states with considerable numbers of eurosceptics, such as the Tories in Britain, are ratifying the treaty through parliament. It is also interesting, although not surprising, to see Sinn Féin line up with these eurosceptics in opposing the treaty. Only four out of the 166 Members of this House have spoken against the treaty.

It is important that people are informed about the arguments in the weeks before 12 June, that Members who support the treaty canvas and answer questions on doorsteps and that literature is circulated to every household so people can make a well informed decision. The European Union, including Ireland, will benefit from the changes to management structures proposed in the treaty. It is important to vote "yes" on 12 June because we want the world to see our commitment to the European project and ensure we remain at the forefront of the development of the new Europe by maintaining and enhancing the benefits for the citizens of the EU.

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