Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Roche. His brief is to take the lead in the debate on the future of Europe. At every stage of the debate he has taken a prominent role and has clearly articulated the position not only to the Houses, but also to the public. The core issue we are discussing today is how to make the new treaty readable, understandable and accessible to the public.

This process started with the referendum on the Nice treaty when the public felt it was isolated. The Government, under the stewardship of the Minister of State, decided to deal with this and that is the reason we are having this debate today. The Minister of State has always made himself available when this issue has come up for debate in this Chamber, in the Oireachtas committee and in the Forum for Europe, under the chairmanship of Senator Maurice Hayes. He has been available to answer questions, listen to debate and to find out where the problems might lie. It is only by listening that one can arrive at the ideal answer for the future of Europe.

The background to the draft treaty was the Convention on Europe which discussed the issues and arrived at a set of recommendations for a new integrated treaty that will be closer to citizens and understandable by all. The Convention covered three main areas: the need to have a clear, simplified treaty, the need for the new Union to play a positive role on the international stage and the need to bring the institutions of Europe into line and make them more effective and efficient in handling their administrative responsibilities. The Convention did its work well. I pay tribute to the Irish members of the Convention, Deputy John Bruton, Proinsias De Rossa, MEP, Deputy Carey and Deputy Gormley. Each time one read a paper on the future of Europe and about how the discussions were progressing, those four names regularly appeared. It was clear that they did a good job on our behalf. They did it splendidly and I appreciate it.

I attended the meeting of the British-Irish Interparliamentary Body in London over the weekend and a good deal of time was given to this debate. We expressed our views and concerns. A number of speakers mentioned the importance of transparency, connecting with the citizen, clarity and making the language as understandable as possible. Many felt that we were right to put the treaty to a referendum. That means we must get it right and simplify it. Other members wondered if they should put it to a referendum as well. It was a worthwhile discussion and I was pleased to participate in it.