Niall Collins (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the EU reform treaty. At the outset I wish to refute some of the criticism levelled at this side of the House by our colleagues in the "Yes" campaign, particularly in regard to their perceived view that this party and Members on this side of the House are not committed to mobilising a campaign early for a "Yes" vote. In my part of the country, Country Limerick and the wider mid-west region, we have been holding a number of meetings. I was personally involved in organising a public meeting last week and sent out over 8,000 communications not just to party supporters, but to the wider public inviting them to an information evening. We did not ask them to come to a meeting to hear the reason they should vote "Yes". We billed it as an open public information session to hear about the upcoming referendum and we engaged in a full and interactive two-way discussion. There were people in attendance who had not made up their minds, others who were committed "Yes" voters and others still who were committed to voting "No". I thank the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, for being present on the night and putting in a very strong performance in espousing why we should mobilise and use every opportunity to promote a "Yes" vote.

Similarly, earlier this week in Limerick city there was an interactive debate between the Minister for Defence, Deputy Willie O'Dea, and a member of the "No" movement, which garnered wide publicity. Credit must be given to the Minister for putting out the reasons we should vote "Yes" in a very succinct, plain and simple manner. It received widespread publicity. I reject criticism that we were not involved in promoting a "Yes" vote from an early point in time as we certainly were.

I will confine my comments to a number of areas which directly affect the constituency I represent in Limerick and the wider mid-west region. These relate particularly to the farming industry, although issues have also been raised with regard to neutrality and representation at EU level. There is quite a wide industrial base within the broad mid-west region of the country.

I will knock the issue of our representation at EU level on the head. It is important this House sends out the message that all 27 member states of the expanded Europe will have equal representation at EU Commissioner level on a rotational basis. No particular power bloc or country, such as Britain, France or Germany, will have a permanent EU Commissioner with us being left with rotating smaller states.

This is probably a good compromise. To have 27 Commissioners sitting around a table with what would have to be vastly diminished responsibilities and portfolios would not make sense for practical working of the new institutions for a wider Europe. At every point in time we must take the opportunity to send out the message that we are really streamlining the institutions of Europe to work for the expanded European community.

On the tax code, it is welcome that IBEC has been to the forefront of the "Yes" campaign from early on. Over the past decades in my part of the world, the tax code available to foreign direct investors and multinationals has made it possible for them to come into the Shannon free zone and wider mid west and County Limerick areas to promote industry. We have done quite well and we now have companies such as Dell, Wyeth, Kostal and Vistakon. Some of the biggest foreign direct investors in the world have located many of their manufacturing and headquarters offices in the wider Limerick area, which is quite welcome. That is down to our attractiveness from a tax point of view and it is important we maintain our tax independence and the complete autonomy we have now, which we will always enjoy, to control our tax regime. We should not be subject to any outside influences from that perspective.

Our neutrality has been commented on by various speakers and most people are quite comfortable that the triple lock mechanism exists. We have suffered no diminution in our neutrality.

Farming is very relevant to the constituency I represent. A "No" vote for the EU reform treaty will weaken Ireland's negotiating hand at EU level and seriously harm farmers and rural communities. Ireland has always had issues to deal with of national importance in Europe and we must deal with these from a position of strength rather than weakness. A "No" vote on this treaty would weaken Ireland's future negotiating capacity at European Union level.

I state this for a number of reasons. For example, the Common Agricultural Policy for 2009 to 2013 is being reviewed over the next six to eight months under the forthcoming Presidency of the European Union. From an Irish viewpoint, there are a number of serious issues in the context of this CAP review and we want to deal with this during the review process. A "No" vote against the European treaty will weaken our negotiating hand during this CAP review process. A "No" vote would also weaken our negotiating hand as CAP is being reviewed at EU level at a later date for the period from 2013 to 2021.

I point out that Libertas, which is leading the "No" campaign against the treaty, wishes to destroy the Common Agricultural Policy in its entirety. I am not satisfied Mr. Peter Mandelson is adequately dealing with the concerns of Irish farmers in the context of the World Trade Organisation talks, and his negotiating approach has been unbalanced. The Irish beef industry is the fourth largest in the world, after America, Brazil and Australia, and we must continue to impress upon Mr. Mandelson that his negotiating strategy is simply wrong. At the last meeting of EU Agriculture Ministers, 20 from 27 Ministers spoke against his negotiating strategy.

The round of talks has been going on for the past six years in Geneva, and it goes without saying these are not without difficulty. No World Trade Organisation deal can be secured unless there is agreement on what is known as the non-agricultural access market. The EU has asked Brazil, China and India to open its markets to imports of goods and services from the developing world but the efforts of the EU have been met with strong opposition from the other three countries to date.

We should bear in mind that no debate about the EU reform treaty is possible without taking a good look at ourselves, where we come from, where we are now and where we are going. Most commentators would agree Ireland has benefited from its engagement in Europe. I am unsure the parts of the Irish electorate campaigning for a "No" vote in the forthcoming referendum are aware of just how much the country has benefited. Ireland in 2008 is unrecognisable from the small, inward-looking country that first joined the EEC in 1973.

I will conclude on that as we should remind ourselves of how immensely we have benefited from membership of the EU over the years. If we take a negative approach to the referendum and campaigning, and if we find ourselves beaten on the issue, we will find ourselves on the bottom of the pile in Europe in terms of credibility and negotiating strength. The issue is paramount.

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