Niall Collins (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to a discussion on the future of this country. The forthcoming referendum on the Lisbon treaty represents a significant crossroads for our society and our country as a member state of the European Union. It is clear to those who live here and visit that we have derived many benefits since our membership of the EU began. One can travel to any part of the country for physical examples such as road and other infrastructural projects and read the information boards that demonstrate the contribution membership of the EU has made to these projects. The business and farming sectors have benefitted greatly over the years. Membership is imperative from that point of view.

Last week the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Vladimír Spidla, visited the mid-west, where an application to the globalisation fund by the Government is under consideration by the European Commission. A significant amount of funding will be made available to those in the mid-west arising from the many job losses we have experienced over the years.

Members of the farming community will be honest in saying that membership of the EU has benefitted them. There is a downside but the benefits have outweighed it. We have an issue with regulation and red tape but having a diminished influence on the EU will not help the cause of rectifying that issue. In the constituency of Limerick West, approximately 18,000 people voted in favour while 21,000 people voted "No". The margin was 3,000 people and I, along with my Oireachtas colleagues, will be making a determined effort to deliver a majority "Yes" vote on this occasion. It is important to point out to those who had doubts on the last occasion that issues such as taxation, the Commissioner, social issues such as abortion and religion, common defence and Irish neutrality have been copperfastened and protected. A number of people who I spoke to have greater confidence since the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Micheál Martin, and the Taoiseach returned with the declarations on legal undertakings. They are moving towards the "Yes" side of the campaign.

We must take on board the lessons learned from the last campaign. There is an onus on all political parties to engage fully. We did this to some degree last time and the criticism of political parties that advocated a "Yes" vote on the last occasion was not all fair. Fianna Fáil organised a number of public meetings in my constituency. In one case I sent out 4,000 communications to members of the public inviting them to an information session on the Lisbon treaty but only 80 people showed up. It is difficult to engage the public on this matter but there is also an onus on members of the public to inform themselves. In the fallout from the last referendum, people said they did not know what the referendum was about and did not understand it. It is a complex issue but I must ask whether they took the time to read the documentation supplied by the referendum commission or consulted the websites of political parties to see how they attempted to explain the issues. There is a responsibility on members of the public to inform themselves.

As Deputy Tom Hayes stated, there is a responsibility on organisations such as the IFA, the trade unions and the church to play their part. In the last campaign I was campaigning outside a church, when a number of people unknown to me appeared and distributed "No" literature with pictures of Pope Benedict on it.

See this speech in context