Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Roche, to the House and support his comments on this important legislation. The Bill may not be huge in volume, but its content and intentions are of importance to the European Continent and its people.

Members' grandparents lived in a Europe when the First World War brought death, division and destruction to tens of millions of people. Members' parents lived through the Second World War which saw Europe torn apart with the nightmare of bloodshed and horror for six years. It left a legacy that is still only healing. Everyone in this House grew up in a Europe of the Cold War and the Berlin Wall, divided on lines of suspicion with the fear of further invasion and war. Hopefully, as a result of the debate on EU enlargement which has taken place since the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism, we are marching forward to a Europe of peace and prosperity.