Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I welcome the informal and helpful intervention of the Minister of State, something very new to me in this House. I look forward to seeing that work and the Joint Committee on European Affairs taking on board all its new responsibilities. It will make politics and membership of the Oireachtas very interesting and could be a forerunner to major changes in the way we do our business.

The Minister stated there would be a long-term challenge for us all. He made the point, with which I fully agree, that the Government and all Members of the House will have to work closely together in a new fashion because of this legislation. It will be very new to us to see all these European issues being addressed and teased out at the committee and, presumably, being sent to the various other Oireachtas committees and Ministers for scrutiny.

When the legislation is in place, we will have no excuse for pretending we have no input or that everything bad stems from Brussels. It has almost become common to claim negative and nasty decisions were made in Brussels. Ultimately, we have sufficient strength and powers in this House to legislate for our own affairs. I hope we will begin to look at the question of the democratic deficit in a new light and realise that there is no great super plan at Brussels level to keep us ignorant of policy measures and proposals and that we will now be playing a full role in debating and making our own decisions in that regard.

The Minister of State may be aware that the President of the European Parliament, Mr. Pat Cox, was here last week. It was an excellent morning in terms of our receiving information. Mr. Cox's presentation was very enlightening and showed how the Seanad can work very effectively. Obviously, stemming from the Bill before us, the Select Committee on European Affairs, its various sub-committees and other Oireachtas committees will have a very major role to play in scrutinising European legislation. There is still a strong and separate role for the Seanad to be seen as a vehicle for debate and dialogue at the highest level on issues of European policy. In that regard, I hope last week's visit by the President of the European Parliament will be a forerunner to other such debates because it was certainly worthwhile from all our points of view.

I support the legislation and demand that we ensure it works by giving the various committees the resources they need. I also support what the Minister said in relation to Saturday's vote. Perhaps in this House we are speaking to the converted. That is the message we got when we debated the Nice treaty some weeks ago, but on Saturday we will be facing the most important electoral test for this generation of politicians and the country. We can change Governments, Deputies and Senators from time to time, but the decision we take on Saturday will have a profound impact on this and the next generation of Irish people.