Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

I propose to share time with Senator Feighan.

I wish the Minister of State well in spearheading the Government's efforts to be successful on this occasion. It is showing more strength compared to the debacle of the last time when there were different voices within the Administration, even at senior ministerial level, and some were advocating a "No" vote. At least this time Ministers are singing from the same hymn sheet which is desirable. We should not have to hold this referendum a second time because the Government should have been successful the first time.

The eyes of Europe and perhaps the world are on Ireland because we are at a critical juncture and our country will suffer if we do not approve the treaty. I have long admired the contributions of people like Deputy John Bruton and Alan Dukes who have been strongly pro-European from day one and who have always advocated the European cause. Fine Gael will be mounting its own national campaign in order to ensure a "Yes" vote. If we were to analyse the contributions I have heard in the Dáil and what speakers have been saying over the last few days, we would think the whole thing home and dry on the basis of the rhetoric and the fact that all mainstream parties support a "Yes" vote. Those certainly outweigh the contributions of those advocating a "No" vote, but we should be aware that the referendum is taking place against an unusual backdrop.