Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

It is essential that European leaders make and implement clear decisions quickly to prove our shared determination to protect our currency, support member states that are working towards economic recovery, and introduce strong rules to ensure fiscal discipline. Those are the words of the Taoiseach. A philosophical debate needs to take place within this House about the nature of our membership of the European Union. We either have an inter-governmental model or an inter-institutional or community method based model. The question the Opposition must ask itself if it proposes a strong inter-governmental model, is if it will be based on one country with one vote or a qualified majority vote mechanism?

Notwithstanding the current economic morass in which we find ourselves, since 1972 Ireland traditionally has always done much better through a community method. It is through strong inter-institutional links, a strong European Parliament and smaller member states binding together that we can act as a contrary force to the weight of the larger countries. If we implement a raw inter-governmental model, the "Merkozy" effect will always continue to hold sway. We must have a qualitative debate about what membership entails, and this must be based not just on short-term political gain by certain parties in the House but in a proper discussion of membership.

I do not see how a position can be reconciled where a party believes a referendum must be put on membership but it also argues that the powers of the ECB should be extended to cover more than its remit with regard to inflation. The premise of the belief is that the referendum would be supported as it would expand the powers of the ECB. The Sinn Féin Party must grapple with that idea. Nobody should come to the House to talk about such wide issues as the loss of economic sovereignty without spelling out in detail what that means. There is a bit of a Tadhg an dá thaobh approach from Sinn Féin on the matter, and its position is fundamentally contradictory.

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