Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

When the Nice referendum was carried recently, we, in this House, were all very pleased it was successful. The European Convention was established to decide on a new constitution and treaty for Europe. A colleague of ours, Deputy John Bruton, has been assiduous in his attendance and has spoken out on many issues. However, there has been no commitment by the Minister of State, Deputy Dick Roche, to attend these meetings. What is happening?

The Minister should come to the House to establish why we are sidelining this institution when the foreign affairs ministers from France and Germany are attending. We may regret sidelining it, because there will be no point waiting until June when proposals are formalised and then objecting. Ministers, like the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, are sniping from the sidelines in Dublin rather than being in there fighting the case in relation to tax harmonisation or any other issues that are being discussed. I ask the Leader to request the Minister for State to come to the House so that we can find out how serious the Government is about Europe.