I wish to turn to the defence argument. The Minister for State made the point that Ireland's position on a common defence is very clear and that we have said that while we would not stand in the way of others, we cannot participate in EU common defence without the prior consent of the people in a referendum. That is a valid argument. I echo the comments made by my party colleague, Deputy Mitchell, in the Dáil last week, when he said we must be to the fore of this debate. We can decide to remain covered under the traditional, ever more irrelevant sacred cow of neutrality, or we can try to take part in, and lead, the debate. We have values in this country about defence and neutrality. In the new Europe and the changed world we have a role to play and an ethos to put forward. We should lead the debate on common defence, rather than in five, ten or 20 years time simply signing up to rules agreed by somebody else. I do not think any political party in this House should be ashamed to enter into a debate on traditional neutrality and on common defence. A Europe worth building is surely a Europe worth defending. If we are to play a role in this, that role should come about as a result of decisions taken by the Irish Government after a protracted debate with the Irish people. The Minister of State is aware that the Fine Gael view favours an open and strong national debate on our future on this matter. The sooner that debate takes place the better. Let us not join the game when the rules have already been written.