Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I agree with the Taoiseach that there has been major progress in terms of the achievement of a Commissioner for each member state and that should be acknowledged.

I wish to put a question to which there are two aspects. The Taoiseach stated that his function was to ensure that the concerns expressed by the Irish people, in so far as we understood them, in terms of their rejection of the Lisbon treaty referendum, were addressed. There are two ways the Government can do this. It must first show good faith by addressing the issue of workers' rights and protecting the hard won rights of workers in this country.

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