Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House and the Minister for his presence earlier. Last year, during one of the current Seanad's first meetings, we debated at length the then imminent second referendum on the Nice treaty. One of the fundamental arguments in favour of the treaty, which all parties in the House supported, was that rejection would create a climate in which the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, as the office was known then, would be forced travel to negotiations in Brussels with one hand tied behind his back.