Dáil debates

Friday, 20 April 2012

Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution (Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union) Bill 2012 - Committee Stage and Remaining Stages

 

1:00 pm

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

Yes, it is an account of what is being done. We can like it or lump it. National parliaments are talking shops in my interpretation of Article 13, which states:

As foreseen in Title II of Protocol (No 1) on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union annexed to the European Union Treaties, the European Parliament and the national Parliaments of the Contracting Parties will together determine the organisation and promotion of a conference of representatives of the relevant committees of the national Parliaments and representatives of the relevant committees of the European Parliament in order to discuss budgetary policies and other issues covered by this Treaty.

There are no other powers so they are a talking shop. They will meet to discuss the issue. It is a democratic fig-leaf.

This is about being dictated to by the big states with a simple majority. That is what we are signing up to and there is no countervailing democratic mechanism, as we noted. Consequently, Deputy Murphy's amendment is on the mark. She is considering the implications of unintended consequences.

We will debate over the coming weeks the potential consequences of the treaty. If the Government gets its way the treaty will be ratified and we will discover those implications but what if the consequences are different to what those on the "Yes" side imagine? What if they are more far-reaching and lead to a position where the Commission will dictate matters and demand certain types of structural reform in our economy, including issues that may impinge on imperatives within the Constitution? What if the Government is wrong and where is the democratic avenue for us to deal with the unintended consequences that may arise? With this wording, there is none because all provisions of the Constitution are overridden in ratifying the treaty. This is against a more simple process where we can ratify the treaty but if we later find it conflicts with the Constitution, there is some recourse for challenge. That is the point of Deputy Murphy's amendment, which is right in its approach.

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