Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

There is only a month until the summit. The Taoiseach has indicated he intends to have everything tied up at the summit so whatever guarantees are agreed will be approved at the summit by the 27 leaders, and that is the end of it. Will we have a debate in this House prior to the Taoiseach going to that summit in the middle of June, making the arrangements with the other countries and agreeing the way forward? We could find ourselves in a situation where issues are agreed that this House has not discussed and we would have no opportunity to make our views heard. For example, we have not heard one word about the workers' rights issue and we do not know whether the Taoiseach will proceed with a protocol. These are legal guarantees. None of the issues raised in media reports has been the subject of discussion in this House because we have had no opportunity to do so. What has been going on behind the scenes may have been going on since the middle of December but we do not know anything about it. When will we know about it?

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