Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)

There was discomfort on faces when the announcement was made because people realised that we all have to campaign on the treaty, put the issues to the people and give the people their say. I found it ironic that the Minister for Justice and Equality said that, if needs be, there would be a second referendum. That rhetoric does not help the debate.

Despite the gloomy faces in this Chamber, I am sure there were happy faces across Europe because, finally, the people suffering under austerity have gleaned a glimmer of hope that at least one country will have a real debate on the issue and one nation will give its people the opportunity to make an informed decision. This is not an EU treaty or an agreement that all 27 member states hammered out as was the case previously. It is a mishmash of legal problems trying to get agreement across Europe. The Minister knows that one of the first rules of treaty making is to try to get everyone to agree. That philosophy was thrown out the window for the sake of convenience. Thankfully, the Attorney General has seen through that and we will have a referendum. We should not be surprised that the Government tried to avoid a referendum because the people were the last element the drafters of the treaty had in mind. The treaty has no impact analysis on how it will affect ordinary citizens, those looking for jobs or those forced to emigrate. This is all about gamblers, speculators and bankers because they are the ones the treaty is designed to protect and keep in jobs. There must be a real, honest debate.

We have seen how Europe reacts to countries attempting to put proposals to the people. We can look at Greece, when there was a quick row back at the thought of a referendum. It was quickly slapped down and that is not what EU democracy is about. It is clear to my party and those opposed to the treaty that the targets in the treaty are unattainable in the specified timeframe. It does not make sense. It will tie us into austerity for years and it is not scaremongering to say so. That is the way we see it. Even the IMF warned about austerity. We cannot just have austerity, we have to have stimulus and investment.

This is a bad deal for Ireland. It is short-sighted and I do not see the logic behind the treaty. I have to ask why we are being asked to sign up to it. It is not in the interest of the Irish people. We heard commentators say yesterday and today that we have to have a real debate and cannot scaremonger or get sidetracked with other issues, such as septic tanks, the household charge and cuts to schools. The reality is this is an austerity treaty.

I can understand why the Government does not want to want this debate to involve household charges, cuts, extra taxes, cuts to rural schools and septic tank charges. The reality is that because the treaty is about austerity, all of these issues are the real and tangible effects of austerity. They are linked to the treaty and should form part of the debate. Anyone who is arguing in favour of the treaty is arguing for austerity. One may disagree with my opinion but the facts will bear me out.

I was amused to hear Deputy Dooley say we need to ensure the debate is about the real issues and that we do not engage in scaremongering. He is from a party which, during the debate on the Lisbon treaty, along with the Labour Party and Fine Gael, told people if they did not vote in favour of the Lisbon treaty no jobs would come.

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