Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Will the EU Council meeting in June address the so-called guarantees which the Taoiseach and his Government indicated have been won in principle? Will those guarantees be addressed at the EU Council meeting? Can the Taoiseach advise what stage these guarantees have reached? Are they in draft form? Have they moved forward from principles to actual texts? Is he prepared to publish those texts? If not, will he indicate the stage he is now at in the preparation of texts and when he hopes to have a conclusion with regard to same with his EU Council member participants? Concerning that, what mechanism is intended to make these guarantees legally binding? That is the critical interest of many people, including this Deputy.

Will the summit consider the report on active dialogue with citizens on Europe which was recently adopted by the EU Parliament? Has the Taoiseach had an opportunity to read the report? If so, did he note and does he agree with what I can only regard as its insulting conclusion that "the less educated and the less affluent a Union citizen is the more likely he or she will be to oppose further European integration".

We see here a report that equates lack of affluence with ignorance. That is an outrageous view and it was adopted by the EU Parliament. What it actually shows is the arrogance of the EU elite. As the report goes on to state, there certainly is a failure in communication but the failure is not on the part of the EU in communicating its position. That is understood. The failure is on the part of the EU to listen to its citizens. That is exemplified in the Government's position and that of its counterparts within the European elite in respect of the referenda results regarding the EU Constitution-Lisbon treaties vis-À-vis Ireland, France and the Netherlands.

If the Taoiseach has not had the chance to read the report, will he do so? Would he agree it is an outrageous assertion to imply that a lack of affluence means ignorance and that this is insulting to citizens of the member states and to the Irish in particular? What steps will he take to have that report challenged? Will it be addressed at the EU Council meeting in June? Will the Taoiseach accept that in the changing economic circumstances, and with the advent of a new EU election——

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