Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The point I am making is that the UK was outside that treaty. It was a serious and profound moment for the future of the European Union. The comments of President Sarkozy afterwards were clear in this regard. He saw this as a new departure for Europe, without Britain. Those were the comments he made.

What context was there before the incredibly damaging outcome of the summit? Did the Taoiseach meet the Prime Minister, Mr. Cameron, at all to try to understand what he was asking for, or did he just accept the President Sarkozy line and his claims about what the UK was looking for? Did he take any steps to prevent the breakdown involving our most important neighbour and trading partner within the European Union? These are important issues. I would have thought, given the serious issues of our trading relationship and closeness with the UK, that we would have done everything possible to avoid a split that night. Now it seems we did not even meet in a formal way with the British in advance to try to understand their issues and work with them in preventing a split.

I assume the latest text of the treaty was discussed between the Taoiseach and the Prime Minister at their recent meeting. The text does not include any of the broader proposals from the summit, it seems to be focused on the new fiscal measures for the eurozone. The Taoiseach says he had encouraged the British Government to sign up to the treaty. Can he confirm that he indicated to the British Government that he did not believe the treaty would necessitate a referendum? Did he have a discussion about that with the British Prime Minister in their recent meeting?

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