Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I can only surmise that the discussions in Government Buildings are going very well given that Senator O'Toole is in such good humour. He must have sorted out IBEC about which, speaking as another trade unionist, I would be delighted.

The newspapers and the media generally are making us increasingly aware of the significance of the Convention on the Future of Europe. It is quite clear that the French, German and British Governments have engaged very seriously with the process. It is regrettable, therefore, that the Minister for Foreign Affairs, one of the more able members of the Government, dismissed the convention recently. In view of this and the major decisions that will be taken, it would be useful to have a debate on the convention and Ireland's attitude to it.

Many of us tried to explain during the debate on the Nice treaty that it was simply not the case that we could keep saying "No" to anything we did not like. While the veto is useful to have in reserve, it becomes more useless the more it is used. If we imagine we can protect our national interests by standing on the sideline at the convention because its proposals will be referred to the Intergovernmental Conference, we are being extremely naive. Naiveté is the one thing of which I would not accuse the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I would welcome an opportunity to hear if he was misrepresented and discover what the Government's real stance is on the convention's evolution.

I was distressed this morning to discover that, yet again, our two national broadcasting services had declined to take advertising from The Irish Catholic. This must be the most intolerant country in western Europe given that religious newspapers cannot advertise on our national television channels. Speaking as a card-carrying and committed pluralist, it is part of my job to defend the right to be heard of those with whom I disagree fundamentally. It is astonishing that in the so-called secular United Kingdom UTV carries advertisements that neither of our national broadcasters will carry. It is offensive and an affront to pluralism. The sensitivities of one of the bodies involved are separate, but the principle of pluralism is that one not only supports but encourages diversity. If an amendment to broadcasting legislation is required, let us make it because it is an absolute outrage that this should continue.