Seanad debates
Thursday, 24 October 2002
Sub-committee of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges: Motion (Resumed).
Last week, we had the advantage of having the President of the European Parliament in the House to deliver a speech on the important issue of the Nice treaty. That practice is something we should encourage and expand on. However, there is another side and this was brought to my attention by a person who voted "No". Between 35% and 40% of the turnout voted "No" in most constituencies. There was no balance in this House or opportunity for anybody to speak on the "No" side, although I recognise that one would want to be the Lord to identify the person best suited to speak on that side. However, a sizeable percentage of the electorate, not aligned to any pressure group, wanted to have its voice represented in that debate. Unfortunately, this House did not have the opportunity to enable that but from now on, if we have a voice on a particular issue, we should balance that by inviting people from the other side to present their views.
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