John Bruton (Meath, Fine Gael)

To take Senator Fitzgerald's last point, the European Union's charter of fundamental rights was drawn up to be an EU version of the European Convention on Human rights but with some additional social rights added on, including the right to free placement services, consultation in the workplace and other such matters not included in the original charter. It is likely to be introduced as part of the constitution of Europe but with the proviso that it only applies in respect of the application of European Union law. Unless the European Union was to be given competence in the area of abortion, for instance, which it does not have, there is no way that any interpretation of the charter of fundamental rights could have any effect. Furthermore, the Government has a protocol which protects the position of our current constitutional provisions on the matter. There may be other areas of our constitutional rights about which the Senator is concerned but that is a leading example.