Ireland's position is well protected. Should the existing provision on common defence be amended or added to in any way, the Government would obviously have to take this into account in framing the proposal it puts to the people, in line with the substance and spirit of the recent constitutional amendment. As of now, I do not know whether the current treaty negotiations will give rise to a proposal for an EU mutual defence arrangement, either full or partial. I suspect that this will be one of the most contentious areas in the Intergovernmental Conference. If they do, however, we will have to discuss the issue. The Government will come forward with its ideas and the thinking of the Fine Gael Party will offer a useful contribution to the debate.