Brendan Kenneally (Fianna Fail)

I also join in complimenting Mr. Cox on his address. The current debate is more about Europe than Nice. Every conceivable topic is being drawn into the debate and we are faced with rebutting issues which have no relevance whatever to the Nice treaty. Perhaps we are focusing too much on the economy, the number of MEPs and the voting rights issue while ignoring many good features of Europe.

The social charter was mentioned earlier. Why not tell people more about what Europe has achieved in that regard? Ireland has had an influence in that development. Ten states have been allowed to proceed towards EU membership but Turkey has not, owing to concerns about its position on human rights. That represents a positive EU position which should be presented as such.

More emphasis should also be placed on the fact that the two world wars in the first half of the last century were both centred in Europe but there has been nothing on that scale since the advent of the EEC, now the EU. The more countries we can bring into the European family, the less likelihood of any such event happening again. Does Mr. Cox agree that those aspects need more emphasis? May I also ask him if he convinced the man in Portlaoise from Aer Rianta to vote "Yes"?