Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an deis labhairt ar an ábhar seo. Tá sé tábhachtach déileáil le tuairisc an fhochoiste agus leis an chaoi ar éirigh leis an obair a cuireadh roimhe a dhéanamh. Tá sé tábhachtach chomh maith labhairt ag an am seo, cé nach bhfuil níos lú ná 48 uair romhainn sula mbuaileann Comhairle Aontas na hEorpa le chéile arís. Cruinniú tábhachtach maidir le daonlathas agus le treo na hEorpa amach anseo atá i gceist leis an gcruinniú sin.

It has been obvious since as early as June that the Government had absolutely no intention of addressing the concerns of the electorate on the Lisbon treaty and instead set itself on a course to rerun the referendum. At no point in the past six months did the Taoiseach ask any EU leader to renegotiate the treaty, nor did the Government even consider for one minute the option of using the mandate it had been given for the good of this country. It is clear that later this week the Taoiseach will announce his intention to ignore the democratically expressed views of the electorate and will announce the holding of a second referendum on the Lisbon treaty. It is clear that in doing so he will be supported in this by the Green Party, the Labour Party and Fine Gael. Shame on them all for ignoring the democratic wishes of the people.

There is deep anger at the arrogance of the Government and its mishandling of the current economic crisis. This will be worsened if it pursues such a high-handed, undemocratic course as to put the Lisbon treaty to a referendum again. The people voted for a better deal and that deal should have been delivered by the Government. I believe that the almost 1 million people who rejected the Lisbon treaty and those who voted for it but respect the democratic outcome will make their views known in next year's European Parliament elections.

Maidir leis an fochoiste agus an deis a cailleadh nuair a bunaíodh é agus le linn a chuid oibre, nílim ag fáil lochta ar na státseirbhísigh ná fiú baill an choiste a rinne a lán oibre. Rinne siad sár obair ó thaobh an mhéid cruinnuithe a bhí acu, an méid finnéithe a tháinig os a chomhair agus, sa deireadh thiar, sa tslí a chur sé an tuairisc le chéile in achar an-ghairid. In ainneoin nach n-aontaím le sin, rinneadh obair mhór agus is cóir go n-aithneofaí go bhfuil státseirbhísigh den scoth ag obair sna Tithe seo agus go bhfuil siad sásta obair dhian a dhéanamh gan stad, agus go minic gan aitheantas.

The sub-committee provided the opportunity for a deep and meaningful engagement with the public on the direction of the European Union. Instead it was a missed opportunity. Its report was always going to mirror the views of the Government given the limited terms of reference and refusal to engage with wider public to understand their views. The Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Ireland's Future in the European Union started its work on 8 October. Its terms of reference were to:

analyse the challenges facing Ireland in the European Union (EU) following the Lisbon Treaty Referendum result;

consider Ireland's future in the EU including in relation to economic and financial matters, social policy, defence and foreign policy and our influence within the European Institutions;

make recommendations to enhance the role of the Houses of the Oireachtas in EU affairs;

[and] consider measures to improve public understanding of the EU and its fundamental importance for Ireland's future.

While that was a laudable remit in some terms, it was a duplication of the work of the National Forum on Europe, which still exists to my knowledge. Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Oireachtas sub-committee, my party colleague, Senator Doherty, warned against the Government's attempt to reshape the public debate on Lisbon away from the treaty itself to one of Ireland's membership of the EU. He also emphasised that the debate must be led by the general public and not politicians who clearly from the referendum result are out of sync with ordinary people. He went on to say that critically we must use the outcome of the debate to inform and change Government policy on the EU in order that it reflects the Irish people's views on its future.

Sinn Féin took a constructive and positive role in the work the committee. However, we made it clear that we would not take part in any choreography to set aside the democratic wishes of the electorate. Sinn Féin was concerned that it was the Government's intention, with the support of Labour, Fine Gael and the Green Party, to use the committee as a space to prepare the groundwork for a rerun of the Lisbon treaty referendum. We argued that the terms of reference for the sub-committee were too restrictive and that the focus of the debate should be the future of the EU and Ireland's role in shaping that future. The Government and other parties rejected our proposals for more inclusive terms of reference.

The founding principles of EU were and must continue to be peace and prosperity. We want to see Ireland continue to play a central role in shaping the future of the EU in the interests of all citizens. We are ambitious for what we, as a small member state, can achieve in the interest of all the people of the EU. It is important to emphasise Sinn Féin's view that Ireland's place is at the heart of the EU. We want the Government and people to play a central role in shaping the future of the EU. Our policy of critical engagement means supporting those aspects of EU policy and development that are good for Ireland and the EU while opposing and working to change those policies and developments that are not in our collective interests. For Sinn Féin this means changing the present course of the European Union.

Ba mhaith linn bogadh ón treo atá á ghlacadh faoi láthair agus ar a bhfuil an AE ag díriú — an lárnú, an príobháidiú agus an míleatú atá i lár an agenda faoi láthair. Ba mhaith linn bogadh i dtreo AE níos daonlathhaí, níos sóisialaí agus níos síochánta a cuireann rathúnas agus cothromaíocht do chách chun cinn. Chomh maith leis na téarmaí tagartha níos leithne a bhí á lorg ag Sinn Féin, bhíomar ag iarraidh go mbeadh plé níos gníomhaí agus díospóireacht níos leithne leis an bpobal a léireodh an réimse tuairimí difriúla ag an Aontas Eorpach a bhí soiléir le linn fheachtas an reifrinn.

Bíodh sin mar atá, níor tharla ceachtar den dá rud sin. Ghlac an fochoiste le formad righin agus é ag tabhairt cuiridh do na finnéithe teacht os a chomhair le ceisteanna a fhreagairt nó bheith "interrogated". Bhí na cruinnithe ar fad i dTeach Laighean, áit le fíorbheagán deis don phobal bheith bainteach leo nó bheith gafa leis an bplé agus gan bhealach ar bith ann le díospóireacht nó plé níos ciallmhaire ná níos poiblí a bheith acu.

Dhéan Sinn Féin argóint chomh maith gur cóir don fhochoiste taisteal timpeall na tíre chun buaileadh le dreamanna difriúla in ionaid difriúla ar nós leabharlanna poiblí, scoileanna, ollscoileanna, ionaid pobail agus suímh oibre. Níor tharla sin ach an oiread agus is mór an trua sin. Mar a dúirt mé ag an tús, is deis caillte í sin.

We argued that rather than the adversarial, witness approach the sessions should take the form of an ongoing dialogue. Unfortunately, all of these proposals were rejected. As a consequence, the sessions were, on most occasions, simply a re-run of the debates of the Lisbon treaty referendum campaign, involving many of the same well known public faces, with little new content. Worse still was the inevitable imbalance in the witnesses who attended the sub-committee. Of the more than 100 individuals who addressed the sub-committee, only a handful were critical of the Lisbon treaty. While some speakers or organisations did not adopt a formal position either way, the overwhelming majority of those who spoke at the sub-committee were clearly in support of the treaty, despite the fact that the majority of the public voted against it.

Having excluded the general public and selected a panel of speakers that held the Government's view, it is hardly surprising that the sub-committee's official report merely confirmed the Government's position. The report could have been written by any of the pro-Lisbon treaty parties represented on the sub-committee without having to go through the charade of dozens of sessions over eight weeks. Sinn Féin did not support the sub-committee's report and instead produced its own report entitled, Majority View, Minority Report — The Future of the EU and Ireland's role in Shaping that Future. This report sets out in detail the challenges facing Ireland and the European Union and the mechanism we believe could have been used to address the concerns of the electorate on key issues such as maintaining our political strength, protecting neutrality, workers' rights, public services and tax sovereignty. It is clear that these issues can be addressed only in a new treaty which would include legally binding protocols, not declarations or clarifications which are not worth the paper on which they are written.

In Sinn Féin's view, the Government and Opposition parties have abused the Oireachtas, cynically manipulating the sub-committee to set the ground for a re-run of the Lisbon treaty referendum. In so doing they have done a great disservice to the people and the European Union. The sub-committee could have been an invaluable opportunity to open up a meaningful and wide ranging debate about the future of the European Union and Ireland's place in it. We could have extended the debate beyond the narrow confines of the Lisbon treaty, a treaty democratically rejected by the electorate, and created a vibrant and forward looking dialogue on the broad range of policy issues involved. Instead, the Government closed down the debate. As a result, the sub-committee's official report will add nothing to our understanding of the European Union, the Lisbon treaty or the various options for the future of the Union. It was a missed opportunity and loaded in a particular direction. If Members wish, I can supply every Member of the House with our report which was based on the very limited opportunities the sub-committee presented. Even at this late stage I urge people not to go to the European Council and set themselves against the democratic views of the people and the mandate given in June.

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