Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I thank all the Members who contributed. This was one of the most refreshing discussions we have had on how we handle this country's interests in the context of the European Union. For years I have made the point that wisdom does not reside on any one side of the House regarding this issue. The Government may be better informed but the reality is that there is considerable talent and information in this House. For example, the contribution of Deputy Penrose was very striking. He covered a matter we considered a number of years ago at an Oireachtas committee on the strategic management initiative. We were pointing out that there is almost a perverse, certainly a pedantic, tendency among public administrators in Ireland to tick all the boxes. As Deputy Penrose stated, and as those of us who travel throughout the European Union know, while EU law is observed across the Union, it is not observed in a way that is oppressive.

I represent a constituency with many more urban than rural families, yet I know there is an oppressiveness associated with the way in which farmers, particularly small farmers, and craft and artisan food producers must deal with EU regulations. This is the case in my constituency and nationally. It is good and proper that we should address this issue. It is only by having a proper public debate thereon that we will deal with it. That is not to say our public officials deliberately try to make people's lives difficult, but there is a national propensity, particularly associated with the administrative tradition, to tick every box. That comes with a high price.

I compliment the Members who questioned our direction in the European Union and asked how our nation can fulfil its destiny. Everybody in the country knows of my personal commitment to the European Union. It does not emerge from any glowing view that it is a project of perfection. No human project has ever been perfect, yet there is something extraordinary about the European Union. I stated previously in the House that when I enter my office every day I look at a photograph on the wall depicting a young boy walking to his death simply because of his religion. We should all remember this. The event depicted took place 65 years ago in Europe. This type of horror is unimaginable now because of the European Union and the European project.

Last week I stood on the battleground at Verdun and looked across the extraordinary valley where hundreds of thousands of young men laid down their lives for nothing, all because of the imbecility of political leadership and betrayal by the military leadership. They died for nothing, their bones are still in the earth and are still being found. The remains that are found are interred in an ossuary that stands on a nearby hill. The deaths were all for nothing, all due to a perverse application of excessive national fervour.

The European Union has made such warfare not just morally repugnant, just as every Christian must regard mass warfare as morally repugnant, but also physically impossible to repeat. I do not know the view of anyone else but I become passionate about this subject. I have three boys and one girl and never want to see them or their peers, or their children, exposed to the perversity of war. The European Union is about peace and not about militarisation.

I was impressed by Deputy Ó Snodaigh's contribution. I do not always agree with him but he did make a workmanlike contribution to point out that an effort is being made by Oireachtas Members to make the system work, although we may have different views on the Union.

A number of contributors spoke about the lost opportunity to bring EU parliamentary democracy to the heart of the Union. A few months ago, Mr. Hans-Gert Pöttering, the President of the European Parliament, stood in Seanad Éireann and stated he was first elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 1979. He contrasted the powers of the European Parliament then with its powers now. It had virtually no powers in 1979. He also contrasted the powers it will have under the Lisbon treaty with those it has now.

We have laid good foundations. The hard work done by Members must, in all justice, be covered in the media, particularly by the national broadcaster. I do not want to be involved in shooting the messenger as it is not a question doing so. It is only if the messenger gets lost or decides to change the message that there is a problem. The job of the messenger, particularly in public service broadcasting, is to broadcast a truthful, accurate and informed account of what occurs in this House.

Deputy Perry stated it is necessary to have further discussions on these issues during plenary session. I will support him strongly and accurately in that regard because I believe it is the way forward. Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas will have to take on the challenge of addressing how proceedings therein are reported. The editor of a newspaper I read every Sunday wrote a letter in one of the national newspapers today stating it is his duty to conduct a campaign to say "No" in respect of the Lisbon treaty. I always believed newspapers were to provide news and that politicians carried out political campaigns.

I thank Members and look forward to continuing my work with Deputy Perry and his committee.

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