Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I welcome the fact the date for the referendum has been fixed for 2 October. I hope that on this occasion the debate about the Lisbon treaty will be one where members of the public is properly and fully informed so that they will want to vote "Yes" in the knowledge that the treaty strengthens our country's position in Europe and guarantees a future for the people and the next generation. That is where the Fine Gael emphasis will be in assisting this matter. On the last occasion, the political process and the political parties failed to achieve that. I would not underestimate the strength of the feeling of confusion that exists and am not led by opinion polls that indicate the referendum is just an exercise to be gone through. There is a hard campaign to be fought in order to explain, inform and brief people fully so they are happy in the knowledge they can vote "Yes".

In respect of the referendum on statutory rape, Fine Gael took a minority view on the report of the committee. Does the Government have a view on that issue as distinct from a Fianna Fáil view? In previous discussions it seemed that some Members were hiding behind the fact that the Government was one entity with a view and the party was something else. It seemed the members of the party represented on the committee had a different view from that of the Government. Is there a Government view on a referendum concerning statutory rape? There appear to be two opinions on the issue and the report produced by the committee. I raised this issue previously with the Taoiseach's predecessor on a number of occasions.

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