Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

The point made by Deputy Peter Power is an important one. One of the great expressions of political maturity in this country has been the virtually unanimous position of the three biggest political parties over a sustained period in support of the European Union. This should not be underestimated. In other countries it has not been the case. In Britain, the issue of Europe has at times been dragged into a kind of domestic political mire, which makes it very problematic for that country to see advantages in Europe. One of the reasons the British have not supported a single currency relates to the difficulty that the two great parties in Britain have not found common cause on the issue of Europe. We should not underestimate the agreement we have had over a sustained period — well nigh on three decades — in the context of this referendum. It is significant that advances that have come about since our membership of the EU have been brought about because of that consensus.

The fact that Ireland is the only country of the 27 EU member states to vote in a referendum puts it in a very unique position on 12 June. It is important for Ireland that we are the only country in which the popular vote will occur and it is important for Europe. It is worth stressing that when citizens come to make up their mind on this treaty, they are aware of the significance of their vote. If this vote goes down, the treaty goes down throughout Europe. It requires 27 countries to ratify it, through whatever means they choose, which we should not underestimate. At the same time, we must never forget that under our constitutional architecture, the people are sovereign and we cannot take that for granted.

The problem with the Nice treaty was that the political establishment, including my party and others, took people for granted. That is why it is crucial in the weeks ahead that effort is made on the ground, public meetings are held, arguments in local media and on radio are put to the "no" side, and, ultimately, people are not taken for granted. Name-calling and calling people loolahs will not help. We need a mature debate on the issues of Europe.

Deputy Peter Power is correct that this is about Europe. Every referendum treaty effectively becomes a debate about Europe, which is not bad in itself. In many respects my generation and the younger generation have fallen out of love with Europe, which is largely a result of the lack of proximity of this generation to the two great wars in the first half of the last century. The reason the older generation seems to be more supportive of the European concept is that they remember the war, its aftermath and the depression that followed. They remember the Holocaust and the division between the neo-right and neo-left, and the turbulence this caused throughout Europe. People born in 1969 and the younger generation do not remember this. We take it for granted because of the political progress that has been made to date.

It is also important that those who argue for a "no" vote in this referendum tell us their vision for Europe. If, for example, the rules were changed on QMV or the position of the Commission, would they argue for a "yes" vote? Of course they would not. This issue has been used by certain groups in this country for the same cynical reasons of getting 50% of the publicity or trying to push other political agendas. If the Green Party was on this side of the House today, it would argue against the treaty for its own narrow, pathetic little interest, and everybody in the House knows that. The Green Party has used in the most cynical fashion every EU treaty debate for its own political ends and the people realise that.

We need to put it up to the "no" side. What exactly do they want? How could they possibly argue that by voting "no" and turning down this treaty they would get a better deal the next time? Can we conceive a situation where the Irish people would vote the treaty down after the other 26 member states have voted it through in their parliaments and where we would have to come back and renegotiate, and would get a better deal the second time around? The world does not work like that. Those who argue in that way need to confront the reality.

It is very important that in the course of this campaign people reflect on the positive aspects for this country. I do not believe our relationship with Britain, which has changed dramatically in the past two decades, could have been possible were it not for the EU. In the same way that the French and the Germans have come together in a form of mutual interdependence, the British and the Irish have come together also. We are now equal partners with them in the European Union. That could not have happened were it not for the new European Union and its political reality.

Irish citizens like the idea of having a second layer of rights through the European Union. We have primary rights through Bunreacht na hÉireann but we have EU-wide rights also, for example, for workers and women. One can ask whether the advance of women in this country would have been possible two decades ago were it not for the European Union. At that time this country was still in a very conservative mode in terms of the position of women. It was the European Union that led the way. Irish citizens know this and they have a multifaceted view of their rights being domestic but also Europe-wide and international.

If we are serious about issues like climate change it is important that we pool our resources and sovereignty as a means of countering those particular problems.

The dark side of Europe is neo-nationalism. The two great problems in Europe historically have been anti-Semitism and neo-nationalism. The dark forces of neo-nationalism still exist in this country and throughout western Europe and we must confront them. The European project is a political expression of how we counter neo-nationalism by moderate positions and through people of a moderate political dispensation supporting that process.

One can ask why the Lisbon treaty is good. It is the first treaty in a long time that is bottom up. It did not come down from the heads of government or the Council of Ministers; it came from the national parliaments. That point needs to be made. For too long we have had a top-down approach from Europe but this has been bottom up. The European Convention, the Praesidium, involved ordinary parliamentarians on all political sides having a discussion over a protracted period to see whether we could reach agreement. It is unique in that way and it is therefore important.

The key positive for parliamentarians is the recognition of the democratic deficit. It is important to realise there are new powers in this treaty in terms of what is called the "yellow card" and the "red card", whereby national parliaments can hold up various proposals, scrutinise draft proposals, or hold the Council of Ministers to account if a third of all parliaments come together and state a position that puts a brake on an initiative.

That is important but it also means responsibility for Members of this House. We cannot say we want these additional powers so that these national debates occur if we are not prepared to put in the time and effort to work in committees to ensure that those powers are realised. Parliamentarians in this House and the other House need to realise there are significant new powers in this treaty which will allow the democratic deficit, a constant problem within the European Union, to be challenged and that is a very good thing.

I also think it is good that Ireland now has the same rights to a commissioner as the great countries of France, Germany, Britain or Italy. The notion that a country of 4 million people has the exact same rights to a commissioner as the British or the Italians, countries with up to 70 million people, is an astonishing deal. Where would one get it? This notion is very significant. We must recognise this is an important new deal and a mechanism by which Ireland can move forward within this complex political architecture. Twenty seven countries, all from different backgrounds with different languages and history have managed to come together to create — as Deputy O'Hanlon correctly identified — one of the most important political developments in the world; the establishment of the European Union.

There is a responsibility to defend that Union and for the younger generation to understand the history of how that Union came about and on the people to vote "Yes", as I hope they will, on 12 June.

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