Michael Mulcahy (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)

I am delighted to be able to contribute to this debate and speak in favour of the Lisbon treaty, the reform treaty. It is worth remembering how we got to this stage. With the accession of the eastern European states and others, the European Union became much larger and now consists of 27 member states. We had the famous convention, which was composed of members of national parliaments, representatives of governments and representatives from the European Parliament. They came together and drafted a treaty at the convention. It was very difficult to negotiate between all the governments. As we heard this morning and as we well know where others had failed our current Taoiseach and Tánaiste successfully negotiated the final text of an agreement for a constitution for Europe, a copy of which I am holding. We all know what happened to that proposed constitution. It was passed by many national parliaments but was rejected in plebiscites in the Netherlands and France. We then had a period of reflection for one or two years, followed by the Lisbon treaty.

If I am to be totally honest I must admit that despite the fact that this constitution was a remarkable achievement and despite the fact that it took enormous work, I share the view that there was considerable wisdom in the outcome of those plebiscites in France and the Netherlands. Perhaps this constitution represented a step too far. Perhaps the constitution was regarded as being the work of the super-staters and the federalists who wanted to see the whittling away of the nation state in Europe and wanted to create a united states of Europe. I certainly do not count myself among those people. I count myself among those who are strongly pro-Europe and who agree the European project should be advanced within the machinery where member states pool their sovereignty but sit around the table on an equal basis while maintaining their national status. That is what happens and is thankfully encapsulated in the Lisbon treaty.

I have in my hand a consolidated version of the treaties amended by the Lisbon treaty, which is another treaty that weaves into all the existing EU treaties. Unfortunately it is a complicated text. Somebody suggested — I agreed at the time — that every person should get a copy of the consolidated text. Of course it should be available to everybody should they wish to read it. However, in reality one would want to be a very good European lawyer to tread one's way through it sentence-by-sentence and paragraph-by-paragraph. It is not an easy document to read and there is no point in trying to say it is. That does not mean it is not important. Those of us who believe in the European project also believe that European partners sitting around that table must be able to make decisions. Of course with 27 individuals representing all the member states, if there was the right of veto on every single point, progress would be impossible. It would be impossible to move the agenda that many speakers have mentioned in this debate.

Some people might claim this is a great treaty or a perfect treaty. I do not agree with that and I do not believe there has ever been such a thing as a perfect treaty. I do not believe the Congress of Vienna was perfect, I do not believe the Treaty of Versailles was perfect, I do not believe the Good Friday Agreement was perfect and I do not believe any of the EU treaties is perfect. However, they fit their purpose, were as good as it gets and are only man-made creations.

I do not think people who support the treaty should overstate its perfection as a text. It is a working document and is the best we could do in trying to get 27 governments to agree. A similar compunction of honesty applies to those who are against this treaty, particularly members of Sinn Féin and its allied organisations. They have consistently opposed every treaty involving Ireland and Europe, without exception. They have never said what they would support or what would amount to a good treaty. Their contribution to the debate is always negative and destructive and I find this particularly unhelpful. I call on groups that are genuinely pro-Europe but oppose this treaty to emerge from the shadows and state clearly what they object to. What in this treaty is not good for Europe?

Many other speakers have referred to the increase in democracy that will result from this treaty. I am a member of both the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny and the Joint Committee on European Affairs and have been since the last Dáil. I welcome the fact that the Lisbon treaty gives a hugely enhanced role to national parliaments in scrutinising legislation proposed by the Commission. As we all know, the Commission has the sole right to initiate legislation in the EU and it is criticised by many of us because it does so with great zeal and may create too much legislation. If this treaty is passed there will be a hugely important role for European affairs committees and scrutiny committees. They will be able to talk to each other to formulate a reasoned opinion to give the Commission on why a certain proposal may breach the principle of subsidiarity or proportionality. We must beef up the resources of both the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny and the Joint Committee on European Affairs if we are to tackle the challenge the possible passing of this referendum could present in the coming months. Despite the excellent staff that support both committees, the reality is that the burden of work that will fall upon the committees, if the new scrutiny proposals come to pass, will be too great for their staff. I am glad the Minister of State is here because more resources, in terms of European lawyers and experts from line Departments, must be made available to these committees so that the Oireachtas, independent of the European Commission and the Government, will have the staff and resources to properly scrutinise what can, at times, be a mountain of European legislation.

Some parts of the media and some politicians should be a little more honest regarding Irish neutrality. I read a headline in a newspaper that said "Lisbon treaty could take Ireland to war". That is absolute poppycock because Ireland's position on neutrality is guaranteed. We have the Seville Declaration, our protocol and the triple lock, which means only a decision taken by the United Nations, the Government and the Dáil will see Ireland partake in a military exercise. Ireland's neutrality is guaranteed and, in fairness to some of those opposing the treaty, they have not used the neutrality angle as an argument against the treaty. That argument is now, rightly, off the table.

The question of our tax regime, specifically our low level of corporate tax, is of great and legitimate concern. I believe some countries in Europe are considering introducing an element of common taxation policy for their own benefit but I feel this is not playing by the rules. It is quite clear that under the treaty each country has a veto on taxation measures and Ireland will exercise this, if it must, against a change to the tax regime. The European Commission President, Mr. José Manuel Barroso, made it clear that there would be no change to Ireland's corporate tax regime and I welcome this.

My colleagues mentioned important institutional changes, including the right to make a petition of 1 million citizens, the new Presidency of the European Council, the new high representative for foreign affairs and a new rotating Commission. We complain that we may only have a commissioner for ten out of 15 years but this will also apply to Germany and France. There will be periods when Germany and France will not be represented by a commissioner at the table, which is a great sacrifice for them. If it is a big sacrifice for Ireland, with a population of 4 million or 5 million, the sacrifice is a lot greater for countries with populations of 50 million, 60 million and 70 million. They are saying that they trust the other commissioners to look after their interests and move the European project forward.

In general, I believe this treaty is extremely important for Ireland and Europe. We all want a dynamic Europe that is not constrained by vetoes over every decision and that can move forward on the important issues the Minister of State alluded to in the past ten minutes. For all these reasons I urge the people of Ireland to vote "Yes" to the Lisbon treaty. I again ask those who genuinely oppose the treaty, but are pro-Europe, to come forward and explain how it should be improved.

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