Niall Collins (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)

At the outset, I agree with the comments of the previous speaker and Deputy Chris Andrews on the disconnect experienced by the Irish public in respect of Ireland and the operation of the European Union. I felt it was palpable and it came through to me quite forcefully during the campaign. As for the referendum on the Lisbon treaty, members of the public demonstrated to me many times that the concept of the referendum was intangible and there was nothing in it for them. All of us who were on the "Yes" side fell down collectively in demonstrating the positive aspects of the treaty. While everyone is aware of how much we have benefited from Europe, people also know of and have experienced downsides to our membership of the European Union. While the positive aspects obviously outweighed the negative aspects, the latter tend to stay in people's minds for longer. From that perspective, we should have sold it better, but we must try to move forward.

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