Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

My sister parties in Europe respect the right of the Irish people to make our own decision in respect of ratification of this treaty, just as we respect the right of other countries to make their decision on ratification in accordance with their own constitutional provisions. This is fundamental. We all must understand that fundamental cornerstone of how Europe does its business, to respect the right of each country to make its own decision and to respect on this occasion the right of the Irish people in a referendum to make our decision.

This treaty is necessary in order to provide stability and security for the euro. Everybody in this country understands the importance of the euro and particularly in light of our experience in the latter part of 2011, understands the difficulties posed for our economy, for investment, for maintaining jobs and for creating new jobs, if there is uncertainty around the euro. That is the reason this treaty is necessary. Nobody is claiming this treaty is the be-all and end-all of what is required to make the European economy recover and that is why the Irish Government has pursued a strategy in our discussions, successfully, so the jobs and growth agenda form part of what is agreed at European Council level. Regarding the approach the Taoiseach took at the European Council meeting in January, the issue of jobs and growth has been firmly placed on the European agenda, particularly issues relating to the completion of the Single Market, problems of small and medium-sized enterprises and especially the issue of youth unemployment which is now at the top of the European agenda and of course it must form part of the discussions.

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