Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I am struggling with the point the Deputy is making. It is very clear that the treaties to which we refer are the treaties governing the European Union. That is the point in amendment No. 13, tabled by the Deputy. To include a reference to the treaties governing the European Union would be superfluous, because it is clear that the reference in section 8 (3)(b), to "those treaties" means the treaties governing the European Union. The same point can be made regarding amendment No. 3. It is again clear that the reference is to the treaties governing the European Union.

It is an issue of drafting. Some people like to make the reference on every possible occasion, and other people try to be more economical with the cross-references. It is not necessary to do this, and the advice from the Parliamentary Counsel is that it is not necessary to do it. We have been at this before, and I know where the Deputy's drafting suggestions come from. We must be more economical with words in the treaties, because the more cross references that are added, the more confusing we tend to make the treaties. Although I accept the bona fides of the Deputy's suggestion, it is unnecessary to make these cross references, as they are implicit.

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