Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Under Lisbon, a new external action service would mean that the professional work of EU experts in conflict prevention and peacekeeping can be better co-ordinated. The Lisbon treaty is about providing the Union with an enhanced capacity for peacekeeping, conflict prevention and strengthening international security in accordance with the principles of the UN charter.

It is worth recalling that when he visited Dublin in 2004 the then Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, welcomed the development of the EU capabilities and the work we are doing together in the field of crisis management. He said he wanted to leave us in no doubt about how important strengthened EU capacities are to the UN. That is why it is so important for Ireland to be fully involved in the EU's foreign and security policy.

The legally binding guarantee secured by Ireland at the European Council states that the Lisbon treaty: "does not affect or prejudice Ireland's traditional policy of military neutrality". The guarantee also puts it beyond doubt that the treaty does not provide for the creation of a European army or for conscription to any military formation. The significance of this is that it gives watertight legal assurance to Ireland on these points which were a bone of contention last year. I would like the coming debate on the Lisbon treaty to concentrate on the reality of the EU's foreign policy, which is fully consistent with Ireland's traditions and aspirations.

We need to prevent those who oppose our EU involvement from misrepresenting the Union's external policies. Those who have doubts can look to our legal guarantees for clear, unambiguous assurance. No one in Europe wants to cede national responsibility for defence issues. President Sarkozy made that clear in March when he said:

Today, [France's] armed forces are and will remain national because our armed forces are the ultimate expression of our sovereignty. Our armed forces will not be integrated into any supra-national army whose control is beyond us. Besides, to be honest, no one wants this ? I have never come across a government which wants a supra-national army. I have not seen a government at the European Council ever ask for anything other than unanimity on the deployment of forces.

Last month the Peace and Neutrality Alliance said there would be a "Yes" vote on Lisbon if there was a legal guarantee on neutrality. We got that last Friday. In April, the same alliance urged us to insist on a protocol. We got that too. Let me quote from our legally-binding guarantee, soon to be enshrined in a protocol. It states:

The Treaty of Lisbon does not affect or prejudice Ireland's traditional policy of military neutrality ... The Treaty of Lisbon does not provide for the creation of a European army or for conscription to any military formation ... It does not affect the right of Ireland to determine the nature and volume of its defence and security expenditure.

I repeat: no European army; no conscription; and no obligation to increase our defence spending. These represent important, explicit assurances. Fair-minded people will, I believe, see them as putting to rest the various concerns about defence and security that surfaced last year.

Deputy Kenny asked about the dairy sector. The European Council discussed the current situation in the dairy market and invited the Commission to present an in-depth market analysis within the next two months. The market analysis would include possible options for stabilising the dairy market while respecting the outcome of the health check. During the discussion, the Taoiseach urged the Commission to take immediate action because the sector is seriously threatened with current price volatility and poor returns in the market. He emphasised the importance of the milk sector to agriculture and to the economy in general.

The Commission's report will be prepared in the context that it must respect the outcome of the health check. It will be recalled that in the health check negotiations in November 2008, Ireland supported the outcome to increase milk quotas by 1% per annum in each of the five years from 2009 to 2013. To suspend these increases would limit Ireland's production potential in the medium term. The issue of a reversal in quota expansion should not arise within the mandate granted by the Council to the Commission.

The Community has already agreed to introduce public intervention storage for butter and skimmed milk powder, and a private storage aid scheme for butter. These schemes will come to a seasonal close in August and, given the current market situation, Ireland has sought the continuation of these schemes for a further period. In addition, while the Community has reinstated export refunds for butter, skimmed milk powder, whole milk powder and cheese, Ireland believes that refunds should be further increased to enable greater volumes of dairy products to be exported to countries outside of the European Union.

The Taoiseach had meetings in Brussels with the IFA and the ICMSA. They both indicated their firm view that more market support was required from the European Union to address the current slump in dairy prices. These views were fully reflected at the European Council.

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