Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Dick Roche, to the House and wish him every success on 19 October. I compliment him on an excellent campaign so far, although it is a case of a lot done, more to do until Saturday, 19 October. In fairness to the Government, and the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, in particular, he identified flaws amongst the campaigners on the opposite side of the debate. I said to him at one stage that perhaps he should not emphasise too much the calibre of those opposing the treaty. However, the Minister proceeded anyway and he has been vindicated, in particular by the revelations on the "Late Late Show" about some of those who seem to be constantly advocating a "No" position in relation to Europe without offering an alternative.

I am delighted this Bill is before the House because it addresses some of the concerns expressed by many people. I served under Des O'Malley as Minister of State in the Department of Industry in Commerce from 1989 to 1992, and had responsibility for all foreign trade. I was also involved in negotiating the Single European Act. On many occasions we flew to Brussels and had a briefing on the evening before going to a particular EU meeting, but we did not have the benefit of the views of either House of the Oireachtas.