Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

A "Yes" vote will enable us and every other member state to retain a commissioner.

The package we are putting forward will also include legally binding guarantees on ethical issues, taxation and our traditional policy of military neutrality. Those who were concerned about those issues last year can be completely reassured by the guarantees we have secured. The commitments and legal guarantees are clear and unambiguous. To ensure that these legal guarantees have full European Union treaty status our European Union partners have agreed that they will be incorporated into a protocol to the European Union treaties at the time of the next EU accession treaty which will most likely be 2010 or 2011. That was not on the table on the previous occasion and it is a significant additional element to the package we are putting before the people.

With regard to amendments to Article 48 of the Treaty on European Union, TEU, which according to Deputy Ó Snodaigh will allow for changes to be made to the treaties without recourse to a full democratic process of negotiation, that is not true. Article 48 of the TEU as amended by the treaty of Lisbon provides that any future move to confer additional powers on the EU or to alter the provisions of the treaties will continue to require an intergovernmental conference and this is known as the ordinary revision procedure. A proposal to amend the European Union internal policies in a way that does not increase the Union's competencies would not require an intergovernmental conference and this procedure is referred to as a simplified revision procedure. Any such decision would still have to be ratified in accordance with the constitutional requirements of each member state. In Ireland, this means that advice will be sought from the Attorney General on each occasion as to whether a referendum is required.

The Lisbon treaty also contains another simplified revision procedure. This provides that the European Council, acting unanimously, can decide that a policy should in future be decided by qualified majority voting rather than unanimity. Any such decision can be vetoed by any government or any national parliament. This procedure cannot be used with respect to security and defence matters. The procedure is intended for cases where all member states and all parliaments are of the opinion that a certain issue can be decided by qualified majority voting. The need for complete unanimity means that this procedure will, probably, be rarely used. It is key that even in these limited circumstances, nothing can be done without all governments and parliaments being in agreement.

I agree with the point made by Deputy Ned O'Keeffe with regard to schools and the ongoing need to provide information to the generation to come. As part of the communicating Europe initiative, we have provided funding for a number of school-based projects and for curriculum development activities. In particular, we are working with the Department of Education and Science and the NCCA in terms of the European content of the SPHE curriculum. Our website, eumatters.ie, will be a valuable resource for teachers and students looking for accessible information on Europe. We will also forward copies of the White Paper to all primary and secondary schools in September for their libraries as a resource for children doing projects on Europe and so on. The websites on both the Lisbon treaty and EU matters will provide a comprehensive resource for our teachers and schools on the European Union generally.

I appreciate the comments made by Deputy Finian McGrath. He made an interesting contribution this evening in so far as he voted "No" on the last occasion. He has indicated that he has an open mind on this occasion. I have had two meetings with him and he acknowledged then that substantial change had occurred in terms of the legal guarantees. He was particularly impressed with the guarantees with regard to the traditional policy on military neutrality and the defence issues, about which he and his team had concerns. He has indicated that he wishes to meet me again and I will respond positively. That is important.

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