Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

I was interested to hear the Taoiseach's comments on his after-dinner speech at the European Council, where he pointed to the institutional disconnect from the citizens of Europe. I note he made no reference whatsoever to any of the domestic issues that were at play in regard to the Lisbon treaty referendum, primarily the lack of trust in politicians in this country as a direct result of the tribunals which have dominated the political scene for the past 11 years. We need to acknowledge this and face up to it. The second issue is immigration, which is becoming an increasingly bigger issue and clearly led to a socioeconomic divide in how people voted in the referendum. Those two issues need to be dealt with.

There is no doubt we have now reached institutional deadlock. While Ireland may be satisfied with that, it is clear the other EU member states are not. That is not in any way disrespectful of the Irish "No" vote but it is an expression of a desire to proceed with further integration at EU level. In conscience, as a country, a society and an EU member state, we cannot afford to try to block that. We need to come up with a solution very quickly.

I appeal to the Taoiseach to make it eminently clear to Sinn Féin and their cheerleaders that there is no prospect of a full renegotiation of a new treaty in the context of solving this issue. They are posturing in Ireland and around Europe. I note Sinn Féin's one MEP, being so critical of a lack of democracy at EU level, ironically was not in Strasbourg for the plenary session last week but was following cameras and radio microphones around the European Council in Brussels, which is telling enough in itself. I ask the Taoiseach to make it abundantly clear that while Sinn Féin might, in whatever cloud cuckoo land they live, believe a full renegotiation is available to this country, that is not a reality and simply not possible.

What can we do? I have been slightly disappointed with the Taoiseach's response. I have not seen a huge amount of decisiveness or enthusiasm to reach some form of solution to this problem. In fact, in some ways the Taoiseach has been kicking to touch. To be fair, the Taoiseach is going back to the European Council in October but I hope he will have concrete proposals on the table.

Significant changes are necessary to entice the people to support whatever proposal will go before them. There will have to be significant and real changes that will appeal to the people and deal with some of the concerns that have been raised. Obviously, the ones that have been floated and on which there is certainly room to manoeuvre are the issues of the Commissioner and some form of declaration or protocol on neutrality and particularly on the social and moral issues.

The social and moral issues are significant. A significant proportion of the population have fears about the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the potential powers of the European Court of Justice in the future. In a very short period, the Taoiseach could bring legal expertise together to put forward a Government position or a response to those fears in regard not just to abortion but to euthanasia, stem cell research and all the moral issues about which Irish people feel strongly in terms of having our autonomy in decision-making. Those fears were not allayed throughout the course of the last referendum campaign. If they are not addressed in the immediate future, the same factors will come into play in terms of how people vote on any future proposal.

I will make two points in conclusion. First, if the Government goes back to the people with a very similar proposal without significant deals or concessions from other EU member states, I have no doubt that people who voted "Yes" in the last referendum will vote "No" the next time. Quite conceivably, the "No" vote could be an even larger proportion on the next occasion unless the Government is careful and sends out a very clear message. That is what needs to be done over the course of the next four to six weeks.

Second, there is a momentum in regard to the European debate surrounding integration and institutional reform. If the ball is dropped in the autumn and the Taoiseach starts talking about a referendum some time next year, it will be divisive. The momentum is there now and the Taoiseach should build on it. He should be decisive, show leadership, bring concrete proposals to the table, both domestically and at the next European Council, and proceed very quickly at that point.

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