Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I thank Deputy Gilmore for sharing time.

The Taoiseach's 30-page Council summary covered a wide range of issues, even though the Lisbon treaty was the main focus. Nevertheless, a great deal of time was spent on economic and banking issues and there was welcome movement and proposals on the direction of financial regulation in the de Larosière report. However, less then one page was devoted to employment and not a single new idea was articulated in the conclusions. Perhaps something arose but it is not covered in the conclusions, which contained a wish list for member states, which have the ultimate responsibility for moving forward and doing the best they can. I was extremely disappointed with that, especially in the context of the informal summit that took place in Prague the previous month.

Under climate change provisions, the 2020 target of 20% was reaffirmed but no detail was provided on how that might be achieved. Will the Taoiseach indicate how Ireland proposes to get its house in order in the run-up to the Copenhagen conference to meet the target? While a recession could bridge the gap, it will do so in the wrong direction in terms of greenhouse gas and carbon emissions.

The main focus of the European Council from an Irish point of view was to smooth the way for a second referendum and the Government achieved that objective. We are on course for a referendum in early October. As my party leader said, it is in the national interest that the Lisbon treaty be ratified by Ireland. I acknowledge substantial achievements were made at the Council meeting. A commissioner for each member state has been secured and the guarantees on taxation, defence and socio-ethical issues are legal decisions, while a commitment was made that they would be appended to the next accession treaty, which provides a limited timescale for the protocols to be in place. That is a firm legal guarantee.

The gross misinterpretations and misrepresentations of supporters of the "No" side combined with the genuine confusion which caused many people to vote "No" or not vote at all in the first referendum have been clearly addressed and they should not be allowed to distort the debate, as they did last June. There is no loss of national control over taxation policy and we can maintain our corporation tax rate and, thus, attract foreign direct investment, which currently creates 75% of all our exports. It is particularly important to have this reasserted at a time of high unemployment and economic crisis.

There is no European Union army and our youth cannot be conscripted into a non-existent army. As the Taoiseach said, people went door to door in my constituency telling householders that their sons, in particular, would be conscripted into a new army that would be established if the Lisbon treaty came into force. There will be no interference with Ireland's traditional neutrality. We are not obliged to join the European Defence Agency or participate in permanent structured co-operation. We said that at the time but this assertion was never properly refuted. It remains the prerogative of Ireland and every other member state to determine the nature and volume of their defence and security expenditure and defence capabilities. Ireland, as always, will only embark on foreign military operations of its choice under the triple-lock procedure. The Taoiseach has made a commitment that legislation will be processed by the House before it rises on 10 July regarding the European Defence Agency and I presume he will confirm this later.

The right to life, protection of the family and education matters provided for under the Constitution are not affected in any way by the treaty's provisions and this is spelled out in detail in the legal guarantees. During the previous referendum campaign, fundamentalist groups such as Cóir, Youth Defence and the newspaper, Alive!, alleged that the treaty opened the door to abortion and euthanasia in a godless Europe. Such scaremongering should now be finally put to rest and the mainstream churches should make it clear that fundamentalists do not speak for them. They did not do this during the first referendum campaign but they should do so this time.

The loss of an Irish commissioner was presented in the Lisbon treaty campaign by Sinn Féin and many others in the "No" campaign as though it was a family bereavement. Not one of them had a good word to say about Mr. Charlie McCreevy, the incumbent Commissioner. Now that Ireland and every other member state will have a commissioner, there is scarcely a murmur of approval from the "No" side, which had plastered the countryside with posters declaiming the tragic demise of the Irish commissioner, the loss of a seat at the Commission table and the virtual end to democracy as we knew it.

The final matter that caused significant concern to domestic voters was the protection of workers' rights. As Deputy Gilmore outlined in considerable detail, the other 26 member states have agreed a solemn declaration on the issue of workers' rights and social policy. This is an addition to the protections and commitments in the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which will be a protocol to the Lisbon treaty when it is, hopefully, passed. That significantly enhances the protection of workers' rights. However, it is important that the Government parties in the run-up to the second referendum on the Lisbon treaty demonstrate good faith in this area by making sure the appropriate domestic legislation is put in place and commitments are made, where it cannot be put in place, to show that workers' rights and social policy are of considerable importance to them.

I do not know whether the House has time to process this legislation because it must deal with the Bills for the referendum, the referendum commission and the European Defence Agency while the Employment Law Compliance Bill 2008 is before us. I also do not know whether we can deal with the agency workers Bill or revisit the posting of workers directive and other legislation identified by Deputy Gilmore. It is important that the Taoiseach indicates that he intends to make a solemn commitment that the Government parties will address whatever they can before the House rises because we will not have an opportunity to do so in the autumn and, where they cannot do so, that they will make a commitment to do so in the future. We will do that if we are in government following the next election.

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