Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I would like to believe this is a reflection of the work I did. The extent of the "No" vote may reflect the work of Deputy Ó Snodaigh. Perhaps the outcome was based on our work and not on the level of satisfaction, or otherwise, with the Government. The result in my county does not reflect the current level of satisfaction with the Government given the difficult measures it must introduce. This is understandable and is well recognised.

The second referendum campaign was good and well fought on both sides. There were some disingenuous elements, but I am certainly not accusing Deputy Ó Snodaigh in this regard. He has had the opportunity to debate this issue on a number of occasions and at all times he was balanced. I might not have agreed with his approach, particularly on the economy but, to the best of my knowledge, neither he nor any of the members of his party sought to draw on issues extraneous to the treaty which could not, according to any fair-minded person's approach, be linked therewith. Unfortunately, however, some individuals continued to draw on extraneous issues during the second referendum campaign. The debate during the second campaign was better informed than that during the first.

I disagree with Deputy Ó Snodaigh's suggestions that it was through coercion, bribery or bullying that the Irish voted as they did. They people benefited from the first campaign and had an opportunity between the two campaigns, during which time there was much more heightened awareness of the issues at stake and much more debate about the Union, to weight up the pros and cons and make an informed choice. Voter turnout was the highest for any referendum on our involvement in the European project to date, as stated by other Members. Clearly, people voted with a greater understanding of what was involved.

The outrageous approach of Cóir in the campaign was very disingenuous. I will not name any individual but it is fair to identify the role of the organisation as an entity. They used religious objects and documents to suggest that the Catholic Church supported a "No" vote. While there were divergent views among the Catholic bishops, they made it clear that there was nothing in the treaty to prevent a Catholic from voting either "Yes" or "No" and that the issue should be decided on the basis of political or economic arguments and not of ethics or morals. I found it difficult to receive documents, either in my home or in various churches, which contained religious imagery to make them look as if they came from the hierarchy and sought to create a negative opinion in the minds of readers. It was particularly disgusting to see some groups linked to Cóir seeking to portray the Charter of Fundamental Rights as a tool of destruction and to play on the fears of vulnerable people, including people with a mental handicap, alcoholics or other marginalised people. These documents gave the impression that with the passage of the Lisbon treaty the Charter of Fundamental Rights would give powers to the State which it did not previously have and would limit the freedoms of people who were vulnerable or in difficult circumstances or that their children would be impacted upon or lose their liberty. That was particularly disgusting and I hope such tactics will never be used by any group in the future.

The biggest difficulty of the "Yes" campaign was in convincing people who did not have full information that the treaty had merits. It is difficult to provide information in a vacuum when people do not have the concrete knowledge of what the European project is about. If we learned anything between the first and second Lisbon referendum campaigns it was the importance of generating a greater level of debate on the European project in this House. This issue must be addressed. While I recognise the contribution of the Opposition in promoting a "Yes" vote, the Fine Gael proposal to abolish the Seanad is a retrograde step. We have an opportunity, in reforming the Dáil and Seanad, to give a much greater level of access to European information and to further European debate within the Seanad. On the Order of Business today, the Labour Party and Fine Gael voted against the proposal that the Dáil sit in committee next week to discuss Committee Stage of the NAMA legislation. We need to develop committee debate rather than indulging in the tit-for-tat debate which we often have in the House and which does not reflect well on the real work of the Oireachtas. There is a notion that if we are not sitting in plenary session and throwing insults at each other across the floor that we are not doing our work. We would achieve a greater level of work more beneficial to the people and the State if we sat in committee, with public access, to debate issues of strategic national and international importance. This matter could be addressed by the Whips in terms of furthering the campaign for a greater level of debate on matters of European importance.

I recognise the prominent role played by Fine Gael, the Labour Party and a number of Independents in debating and canvassing to communicate to the people the importance of passing the treaty. I recognise the tremendous efforts made by various groupings such as the IFA, the ICMSA, other farming organisations, trade unions and IBEC. I particularly recognise the work of two groups which represent civic society. They are We Belong, which was headed by Olivia Buckley, and Ireland for Europe, which was headed by Pat Cox and involved Brendan Halligan, Regina O'Connor and many others who gave their time voluntarily because they believed in the European project and in the importance of a "Yes" vote. This coming together of people outside the political sphere was extremely welcome and should be harnessed in terms of how we continue to promote the European project.

The efforts of the Government, of Government advisers and of national and international officials and civil servants must also be recognised. There was a difficult campaign in negotiating the legal guarantees with other member states. It was possible at an early stage to obtain declarations of intent but to obtain them in a legal format along with agreement that they would be attached as protocols was a well negotiated position. A debt of gratitude is due to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, and the civil servants and ambassadors in the member states who worked effectively on that campaign. Fine Gael and the Labour Party also used their contacts in their respective political groupings in the European Parliament and played a significant role, which should not go unnoticed.

The legal guarantees on taxation, social and ethical issues and militarisation were hard fought but vitally important because research had identified them as issues which had forced the Irish people to vote as they did in the first referendum. The securing of those guarantees, together with the solution of the representation issue of the loss of a Commissioner, ultimately brought the Irish people around to the belief that nothing in the Lisbon treaty would be harmful to the achievements of successive treaties or to the growth of the European Union.

Deputy Costello made it clear that this referendum campaign was more difficult than others because the Irish perception of involvement in Europe had always been enhanced by a belief that there was something of monetary value in it for us. I believe we have moved beyond that. Our understanding has improved and we have matured as a member of the European Union. We now see ourselves, not as part of a hand-out culture but in a central role in guiding the future direction of the European Union to our benefit and that of others. We have the capacity to steer the European ship to our benefit and that of others in a collaborative way. The passage of the treaty referendum, difficult as it was, shows the maturity of the Irish people. It is important that the efforts of all concerned be recognised.

Having brought European matters to such a level of understanding and awareness, it would be a pity to allow all of that to dissipate. We have come through an intensive round of discussions. After the defeat of the first referendum the Commissioner issue was resolved in December 2008 and this was followed by the build-up to the legal guarantees being agreed in June 2009 and the referendum campaign in October. There is now continuing talk about when the treaty will come into force. All of this keeps the European project in the people's mind and in the media. We all hope that President Klaus of the Czech Republic will sign the treaty. My concern is that once that matter has been dealt with our discussion on Europe will fade away. That would be a great pity. It behoves us in this House to try to ensure that European matters remain at the forefront of the agenda so that as we evolve with Europe we do not have to go back to deal with the information deficit that existed prior to the first referendum on the Lisbon treaty. Through the co-operation of like-minded parties in this House there should be a capacity to do that. When the provisions of the Lisbon treaty are adopted a greater level of debate will be created in the Oireachtas whether through scrutiny or the subsidiarity checks. We must work more imaginatively to ensure that we retain that knowledge base and build on it as we move forward.

The sub-committee of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs that was set up in the wake of the failure of the first referendum on the Lisbon treaty identified a number of considerable weaknesses in the European knowledge base. That is something we must address. That was largely as a result of our belief that we participated in Europe to gain something rather than for us to be part of the growth and development of Europe. We must work to try to develop a consciousness of the importance of the European Union. We will achieve that if we keep on debating and discussing that agenda in this House.

We also must examine the education system and the curriculum as a means to achieve that. Unfortunately, there is not enough of a knowledge base or understanding of the origin and development of the European project for children in school as they progress through exams and become voters and progress through life. They are unaware of its foundation as a peace process and what the results of working together to the benefit of all can bring. Perhaps some of the reason for that relates to the fact that we often talk about the European project in some abstract form. We spend too much time talking about institutions and the relationships between them rather than looking at the much more concrete elements of Europe, what the issues are, what is the purpose of the existence of that collaborative environment that is the European Union and where and how we should progress with it. Ultimately, that must be our focus.

There is also a requirement on the media. It is easy to put the blame on the media and I do not wish to do that. We must be imaginative in how we generate debate in the Oireachtas and if we are successful in that regard the media will report on it. It was interesting that through some of the research we carried out in the sub-committee of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs and, in particular, hearing the views of the media, it emerged that if issues are not debated in this House and are left to be debated in the context of the European Council, the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament or the Committee of the Regions or some such forum, they will not find their way into the common discussion fora in this country and will not be reported in the media. If we can succeed in having a greater level of debate and discussion we can achieve success in that regard.

There is a considerable role for the national broadcaster, especially in view of its public service obligation, which is ultimately funded through the licence fee. There is a need to look more broadly at promoting our relationship and involvement with Europe and what the European project is all about. A magazine programme or documentary that is screened at 11.30 p.m. or midnight is not helpful in that regard. Such programmes need to be much more mainstream and based around a weekly schedule. Ultimately, that should be the role of a public service broadcaster; to look to areas that might not be commercial. It is clear that if it was commercial at the outset the public broadcaster would have the type of programmes that generate revenue through the commercial arm. For that reason there is a role for RTE. The broadcasts must be at a time that attracts an audience so as to develop a knowledge base of the European project in the community. I look forward to that discussion being dealt with through the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, the Marine and Natural Resources.

Unfortunately, the debate on Europe often centres too much on abstract issues and dealing with EU speak rather than focusing on how the European Union applies on an ongoing basis to the daily lives of people in this country. Unfortunately, in many instances the only time there is reference to the European Union is when something negative arises. Other speakers referred to that point, namely, that the Government and politicians take credit for the positive and seek to blame the Union for any negative consequence that might arise from directives and legislation.

The Union needs to focus, either through the Commission or the Council of Ministers, on addressing the challenges facing Europe in a much more upfront and concrete way rather than talking about the back-end institutions, and how those issues relate to the lives of the citizens of the various member states.

In terms of the financial and economic situation we need to consider the role of the Commission and the Union in developing policies on banking regulation. We need to discuss that issue more in this House. We need to look at the capacity of the Union to develop stimulus measures to reignite economic activity in the various member states. We also need to consider the co-ordination of efforts to resolve the banking problems. It is clear that a small country such as ours with a small national banking infrastructure cannot be expected to resolve those matters in isolation. People would begin to see and appreciate the benefit of the collaborative working between member states through the Commission and the various institutions of the Union, but that needs to be addressed more. A greater level of debate is required on the role of the European Central Bank, ECB, and in particular the support it is giving the State through the funding arrangement that will be in place for NAMA.

The future development of the European Union must be communicated better. It is incumbent on us as Members of this House to use all the elements we have at our disposal. I again appeal to the Fine Gael Members present, whom I know have a great regard for the European Union and the way it works - that has been the case throughout the history of that party - to use the Seanad and the committees of this House to ensure there is a much greater level of debate, understanding and promotion of what that work is all about.

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