John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)

Regarding the adoption or otherwise of the European constitutional treaty, I am in agreement with Senator Brian Hayes that the franchise should be as wide as possible to the extent that all European citizens in this country should be able to vote. Such people can already vote in European elections and even stand for those elections if they so wish. Matters are not as simple as one might think because of our own Constitution. The difference between Ireland and the United Kingdom is that in the case of a constitutional amendment or the election of the President, only Irish citizens can vote. In the United Kingdom they do not elect their Head of State and do not have constitutional referendums. They may hold a plebiscite but that is not the same. I suggest to the Leader that she ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government what might be possible in this area because the general proposition being made is reasonable and should, if possible, be adopted.

The Middle East issue was raised yesterday by Senator Norris and others as it was today by Senator Ryan. It would be appropriate for us to return to the matter. We should not merely consider Iraq but must always give serious consideration to the situation in Palestine, given the circumstances there and the apparently imminent death of President Arafat. Hopefully there will be a peaceful transition of power there, the extremists on both sides can be resisted and the terms of the road map can be implemented. It would be appropriate for us to revisit that matter in the next few weeks; the House has a good tradition regarding such debates.