Don Lydon (Fianna Fail)

I must repeat what other Members said as it happens to be true: we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the people who negotiated this treaty on our behalf. I listened to Proinsias De Rossa, Deputy John Bruton and the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, time and again and found them to be really impressive. As Senator Ryan said, if any man was suited to the job, it was the Minister of State Deputy Roche. That is because he is particularly interested in the subject and has worked assiduously on this project. I read the amendments he tabled on our behalf and they make up an amazing piece of work for which he is to be lauded.

Some people have asked why we need a constitution, saying we are grand as we are with our own Constitution and the various treaties. There are two reasons that we need it. First, we are governed at present by a number of treaties which are incomprehensible to most people, to put it mildly. I have read the Treaty of Nice, the Treaty of Amsterdam and so on, but who knows what terms like variable geometry, subsidiarity, peripherality and pillars mean? Senator Ormonde said this must be simple and the wording of the new constitution is simplified. People can read it, understand it and agree or disagree with it, but at least they will know what it means and that is very important. All these treaties can be incorporated in the new constitution.