Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The Irish people got that. They need have no worries in respect of the fact that I formally brought to the attention of the Council the fact that the Irish people had voted "No" in the referendum and that, therefore, we were not in a position to ratify the treaty as matters stand, which it already knew. I made that point, which is accepted, and the Deputy does not need to hammer it to death. There is no issue about it. These are intelligent people who know what the rule is in respect of international treaties. If all member states do not ratify it, it does not come into effect. It is a statement of the obvious.

The question for us, as politicians, is where do we go from here? That is the issue. The Deputy should not be surprised if people have an opinion on that.

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