Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I support Senator Lydon's comments almost entirely about the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Roche on this issue. I had the pleasure of spending a couple of days with the former French President, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, in St. Petersburg – I love name-dropping, by the way. I spoke to him about his work and he was full of admiration for the work done by people like the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, although he did not agree with him on every point. It was clear to me that there is a real task ahead of us in terms of a balance between small and large nations.

If one reads The Irish Times today one is reminded of one aspect of that in the business pages, which state that the French have clearly been in breach of their borrowing requirements – I am not talking about the constitution here but borrowing requirements in Europe – for the third year in a row. They are under some pressure and it looks as if they will not bend too easily. We know the Germans have also been in breach of some of these regulations, yet on the one occasion we were in breach of the regulations we were ticked off very emphatically by the authorities in Europe. A balance is needed between large and small nations.

In drawing up the constitution it is clear that Mr. Giscard d'Estaing had great difficulty achieving the balance, that he was very unhappy at the thought of a Commission with 25 to 27 members sitting around a table, even if only 15 had votes, and that he found this an impossible task. It is a reminder that we must fight and negotiate in a way that protects small nations.