Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I welcome Ms Ahern to the House. I am much in sympathy with what she said about the nuclear industry. If the Government wanted to invest €36 million in Aer Lingus, the EU Commission would quickly point out that it was entirely contrary to laws and rules of competition etc. and would constitute unacceptable State aid. It is extraordinary that no one blinks an eyelid when €36 billion is used to write off the debts of Sellafield in particular, and the British nuclear power industry in general. When I think of what an investment of €36 billion could do in other spheres, I am amazed at the passivity of the British public. Nuclear power retains an aura of prestige politics and no one seems to treat it as a public issue. There seems to be a total contradiction between the general ethos of the EU and the way the nuclear industry is treated economically. I have long held the conviction that it is the sheer economic lunacy of nuclear power rather than safety arguments that will get rid of places like Sellafield.

I know a debate on attitudes to future European developments has been under way in the Green Party in the period since the second Nice treaty referendum. While I appreciate that the European constitution has not been finalised, we can see what are the likely variations. I am in favour of Ireland fighting its battles in Europe and doing so from within. However, I do not see how we can serve our interests by stepping outside the frame, which is what using the nuclear option of voting "No" to these developments would seem to be.