Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Taoiseach and thank him for coming here to talk about the European Union and its constitution. I congratulate him on the fact that it was under his leadership during the Irish Presidency of the EU that the constitutional treaty was brought to its conclusion. Unfortunately, since then it has been rejected in referenda in France and the Netherlands. This was a major shock. The message appears to be that people have lost trust and confidence in Europe and the constitutional treaty had no relevance to their daily lives. This setback has led to a difficult period in which we must take time for reflection in all member states. As the Taoiseach stated, the constitutional treaty can be revisited again during the Austrian Presidency. We must ask why this has happened. Some soul searching will be required in the debate during the next six months on the future role of Europe, its vision and what is the purpose of the European constitution.

Last year ten new members acceded to the European Union. Many of these countries came from deprived backgrounds with political instability and social upheaval. The Iron Curtain has fallen and many of these countries have only recently experienced democracy. The constitutional treaty sets out the Union's values following enlargement. Its purpose is to try to make the workings of the institutions more effective with less regulation required to bring about institutional reform. Initially the European Union had six members, now it has 25 member states. It is understandable that the workings of institutions had become cumbersome and bureaucratic and it was necessary to try to make the workings of the Union more effective, manageable and accessible to people. The Union is different today to how it was 50 years ago.

There is a perception that decisions are made without consultation, that everything is decided in Brussels and that we are losing our Irishness. It is necessary to get across the message that this is not the case. Europe is about co-operation and cohesion. National Parliaments will have the big say under the new principle of subsidiarity. Every initiative proposed in Brussels will now have to be vetted by the national parliaments. That is an important and key area. From here on, when Brussels proposes an initiative an impact assessment will be carried out on its effect on our people. We must get that message out. This will mean that the Commission and the Council of Europe will have to be accountable and connect more with the public. Less regulation will be in place.

As a member state, we have had the experience of the failure of the first referendum to ratify the Nice treaty. We quickly found out that it was lost because of the fear of being absorbed by the bigger states and that their was no sense of accountability or relevance. We have learned that lesson, so it should not be too difficult for us to continue that debate and to open it up. I welcome the Taoiseach's launch of the White Paper. As he said, there is no going back. We have benefitted from membership of the European Union, which has transformed our country. We must not forget Ireland is committed to the European constitution. We have benefitted to a great extent from the Structural Funds and from the cohesion policy. We made full use of those opportunities so it is necessary that we ensure that other member states will get the same opportunities we got in the past.

We must have economic co-operation among member states. We have free movement of goods and people and our industries are regulated but we must create that confidence among other member states. That is the challenge for the future. The National Forum on Europe, chaired by Senator Maurice Hayes, will lead that debate forward. The challenges that face us include globalisation and enlargement of the European Union. Turkey has entered into negotiations on accession, and Romania and Bulgaria are due to enter the EU in two years' time.

I congratulate the Taoiseach on his firmness regarding reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. There can be no cherry-picking. We are all in this together and we must confront matters. Having said that, while globalisation is a fact, economic co-operation is important, as is the fight against terrorism. We must continue to take a collective approach but at the same time we must not forget social justice. The debate that will take place will centre on how we can best protect our citizens and how national Parliaments will make decisions rather than having them imposed by Brussels. If we get that across, we will not have any difficulty achieving the right result in the referendum.

I again congratulate the Taoiseach. When the debate begins we will have a duty to make sure we connect with the public. We must start here in this Chamber. By using it as well as the other Chamber and the National Forum on Europe we will make a success of it when the time comes.