Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important debate. As a member of the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny, I welcome the provisions of the Lisbon treaty. I hope that members of the public will find it within their capacity to vote "Yes" on Thursday next in order to give effect to the provisions outlined in the report. I accept that there are many other important elements to the Lisbon treaty. However, those which provide more power to national parliaments will begin to tip the balance in favour of citizens. For far too long people have referred to the feeling of a distance between the institutions of Europe and its citizens.

I welcome the mechanism that will allow member states, through their parliaments, to object to any breach of the principle of legislating in the most appropriate forum. This is obviously guided by the necessity to retain the development of legislation in the forum that remains closest to the citizen. This matter was alluded to by previous speakers when they referred to the principle of subsidiarity. The mechanism to which I refer, in conjunction with the other elements of the treaty that set out how national parliaments can have a greater role, is extremely important.

Like other Members, I canvassed extensively in respect of this matter in recent weeks. People have informed me that they do not want Europe to be given the opportunity to generate more and unnecessary legislation. They believe there is a disconnect between the institutions and citizens and also that there is a lack of democracy and transparency. The passage of the Lisbon treaty will help to redress the balance in this regard. The elements as they are set out clearly do that. It also provides the first step towards shifting the balance back towards the citizen, which citizens have been demanding for some time.

The same principle applies in the reduction of the number of Commissioners. Clearly, with the passage of the Lisbon treaty, together with some of the provisions set out in the Nice treaty, there was a clear decision to reduce the number of Commissioners. The Nice treaty does not set out how to do this but the Lisbon treaty sets the process by which this would be achieved. This is important as it eliminates more of the bureaucracy and removes unelected people from the central decision-making process. It also shifts the balance back towards elected representation, whether it is in the European Parliament or national parliaments.

The "No" camp is telling us the EU has too much of a role in our lives and for that reason it suggests we should vote "No". On the other hand, one of the other reasons it tells us we should vote "No" is the loss of our Commissioner. The truth is they cannot have it both ways. There would be too many Commissioners at 27 and people are in positions generating, in my mind, unnecessary legislation and directives. By removing such people from the process, we provide a greater element of control to the elected representation and dispense with the bureaucracy that many of our citizens speak about. If the "No" camp was honest, the answers to the arguments they are advancing are provided in the Lisbon treaty referendum.

To my mind, national parliaments will be fully recognised as part of the legislative process of the EU, which is very positive. Surveys have shown that the citizens are feeling a level of disconnect from the EU decisions, which they view as very negative. For that reason, the report is very welcome.

The increase in the co-decision process, which will give a greater role to the directly elected Members of the Parliament, is also a very positive element. In terms of how we transpose this particular process into the workings within these Houses, we will need to discuss the issue over the next number of months.

I recognise the input of the Chairman of the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny, Deputy John Perry, in what he has tried to do in evaluating the type of scrutiny carried out in other member states. The next step in the work he has set out in that regard is vital. Other member states have some very good processes in place and I have no doubt the next report before the House will set out how we should deal with such processes. I welcome that development.

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