James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, to the House. He is a forward thinker and I hope he will give a positive response to the Fine Gael motion. Fianna Fáil has not lost its hypocrisy when it has people such as Senators MacSharry and Fitzgerald among its ranks. They are still referring to the image of the maidens and the crossroads, as portrayed by de Valera in bygone days. I hope that there are other members of the party who will move the European initiative forward.

I welcome and support the drafting of a new constitutional treaty for Europe, a process which is now reaching a conclusion. The issue that we are discussing this evening is the creation of a common defence for the European Union. It is imperative that we recognise that Ireland should not only be part of the security and defence structure, but should be actively involved in its construction. Unless the Government is 100% committed to positive action in this regard, Ireland will be left in a no-choice situation, whereby we will be forced to either tag along with decisions made by other member states or be left in isolation. At present, our citizens are the least protected of any country within the Union and clinging to our neutrality on every issue, regardless of the circumstances, is tantamount to political suicide. Constitutionally and legally, Irish neutrality is one of Ireland's best known myths. It has, perhaps, been taken out of the realm of legend by common usage, but, nonetheless, it has absolutely no firm basis in reality.