Michael Mulcahy (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the debate on this excellent report, which I will come back to in due course.

It is worth remembering the genesis of this committee. Credit should go to all parties concerned. If I recall correctly, it was Deputy Ruairí Quinn who originally proposed the establishment of the scrutiny committee. The Labour Party introduced legislation in regard to the European Union (Scrutiny) Act which, in fairness, we had no problem accepting.

Also, I pay tribute to former Deputy Gay Mitchell, the first chairman of the sub-committee on EU scrutiny who laboured in the basement very early in the morning for many years and did an excellent job getting this started. I pay tribute to the current chairman of the committee, Deputy John Perry, who without question has given a new lease of life and new impetus to its work. While paying tribute to these people, I join with other speakers who have praised the effervescent Minister with responsibility for European Affairs, Deputy Dick Roche, who has made Europe his métier. As other speakers mentioned, he works much of the time on the sidelines doing valuable work in this area.

I am sure my colleagues will agree that what is contained in this report is of extreme importance to Ireland. We must remember that EU legislation has a direct effect in Ireland. People seem to forget this. Not only has it a direct effect here but, legally, European law is superior to Irish law where a conflict arises, providing always that the European law is consistent and is part of the acquis of the various treaties. What is contained in this report is of exceptional interest and concern to the Irish people. It is, therefore, a good day for this Oireachtas that we are taking time out to examine and debate this report and to bring it to the attention of the Irish people.

Obviously, in the time available to me, it is not possible to go through the report in its entirety. However, I commend the Chairman, Deputy Perry and the officials of the committee on putting together this report. I agree the committee should be augmented and have made that point publicly on many occasions.

I recommend sending the report to all civil society organisations because they would find it interesting and useful. It deserves a wider circulation than Members of the Houses.

This report would have been more relevant if we had voted for the Lisbon treaty because the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality would have given an impetus to our work. For the first time, national parliaments would have been able to engage directly in the legislative process of the European Union.

The people have made their decision and I genuinely respect it. However, it is my duty as a member of the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny to report to this House on the attitudes and feelings of our colleagues from other parliaments across Europe. Some weeks ago, I accompanied Deputy Perry and the Chairman of the Joint Committee on European Affairs, Deputy Durkan, to a meeting in Paris of COSAC, which comprises six parliamentarians from every parliament in Europe. The other delegates were polite and understanding about Ireland's position but, beneath that layer, I sensed a growing impatience that the Lisbon process has not been allowed to progress. It is analogous to a train station from which 25 out of 27 carriages have departed. The remaining two carriages are asking the 25 which have commenced their journey to return. The majority of the Irish people have decided not to join the European journey. It is true that treaties cannot be changed other than by unanimity. However, while Lisbon cannot proceed without the agreement of all 27 member states, some other form of enhanced co-operation could be decided by the 25 which have ratified the treaty. That will leave Ireland in the shadow of a eurosceptic Britain while the rest of Europe moves on. We would thereby undo all the good work done from the 1970s to the 1990s. Alarm bells should be ringing to alert us to that prospect.

Some have argued that a second referendum would be undemocratic. How can a referendum be undemocratic? A second referendum will never take place without the agreement of this House, the Members of which are democratically elected. It is, of course, a matter for the Government to decide after negotiations whether such a course of action is necessary.

It is claimed that the project is being led by political elites. I do not consider the parliamentarians of France, Germany, Spain, Denmark and England as political elites. Like ourselves, they are ordinary people who represent their electorates. The argument that Lisbon is an elitist project is either dishonest or ill-informed.

In regard to the argument that Ireland got a bad deal, we got exactly the same deal as everybody else. Nobody has said we were proportionately worse off than others. It is bad enough that a country with a population of 4 million people will not have a Commissioner for five out of 15 years but it is a bigger deal when the same rule applies to a country of 80 million. We have to compare our sacrifice with that of other countries.

The Joint Committee on European Scrutiny plays an important role. Under the chairmanship of former Deputy Gay Mitchell, we used to meet in the basement at 8 a.m. Our deliberations were not well reported but our profile has increased since we became a full committee under Deputy Perry. I concur with Deputy Costello that the coverage of EU legislation and the committee's work by the national broadcaster is a scandal. I estimate that RTE spends more on Podge and Rodge than on informing the people of Ireland about important issues. It argues that our work is not interesting to the average punter but, as Deputy Costello correctly pointed out, it is the job of the broadcaster to package these matters to make them interesting. Every issue outlined in this report is of considerable importance to Irish people. It may not be wrapped in interesting packaging but it covers everything from transport and public health to security and the Third World. The director of RTE is failing in his job of properly and proportionately covering the European Union. I challenge him to come before the Joint Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to justify his station's abysmal coverage of European matters.

I commend the Joint Committee on European Affairs and its Chairman, and welcome the debate on this report.

See this speech in context