Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I will not press it to a vote. I reiterate the Labour Party's continued opposition to this aspect of the European Communities Act 2007, which is mentioned in this section. I accept that no change in this respect is proposed in the Bill before the House. As the Oireachtas implements the provisions of the Lisbon treaty, this issue will have to be addressed. We will have to consider whether these extra powers, which are essentially anti-democratic or undemocratic, should be continued or whether we should seek to abolish them. While I will not pursue this matter at this stage, I will raise it again in the future.

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