Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

The electorate of the Twenty-six Counties will vote next year on the Lisbon or reform treaty. We may be the only EU citizens to do so. This places an enormous responsibility on our shoulders to ensure before we vote that we fully understand the content and implications of the treaty.

I have listened carefully to comments from Charlie McCreevy when he said that Ireland would be "the laughing stock of Europe" if we rejected the treaty. This is complete nonsense. The people of France and the Netherlands had no such inferiority complex and were able to conduct a mature debate. The people of Ireland should be able to do the same.

The need for Ireland to have its place at the EU table is obvious. However, we must use that place positively. Our international reputation is not so brittle that we must always act as yes men to preserve it, even when the best course of action is to say "No".

I wish to address two key issues of concern: democracy and neutrality. The Lisbon treaty contains the most substantial transfer of powers from member states to the European Council and Commission to date and it does not propose to return a single power to parliaments in member states. This involves 105 new competencies to be given to the EU in the Lisbon treaty and a further 68 areas which will move from consensus decision making at the European Council to majority voting. Among the areas where the EU will have control are immigration, Structural Funds, judicial and police co-operation, economic policy guidelines for eurozone members and initiatives of the new Foreign Minister.

Sinn Féin is deeply concerned at the scale and range of this proposed transfer of powers. To make some comparison, there was a loss of veto in 46 areas in the Treaty of Nice, 24 areas in the Treaty of Amsterdam, 30 areas in the Treaty of Maastricht and the 12 areas in the Single European Act. Even the Treaty of Rome, the EU's foundation treaty, contained only 38 areas.

Possibly more significant and troubling than the large-scale transfer of powers is the inclusion of eight passerelle clauses in the Lisbon treaty. Passerelle is French for "footbridge" or "escalator". These passerelle or escalator clauses would give the Commission significant scope to acquire more powers in the future while bypassing the need for consent in member states. Next year could be our last opportunity to have a direct vote on the direction of the EU.

While parliaments in member states are to be given some new powers, they are very limited and are insignificant in comparison with the powers transferred to the EU. The role of the only elected EU forum — the Parliament — continues to be limited. The Parliament will not have the power to initiate legislation or to amend it.

The Lisbon treaty will have huge consequences for this country. Let us look at what is happening already. For example, when Sinn Féin and the whole of the farming industry demanded that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Mary Coughlan, ban Brazilian beef as it does not comply with EU standards, she said the banning of Brazilian beef is a matter for the European Commission. There was a similar response from the Taoiseach when it come to protecting jobs in Irish Ferries. This should alert us to the dangers and consequences when we hand over decision-making powers to the EU.

With regard to neutrality, the militarisation of foreign and defence policies in the past decade is there for all to see at EU level through the development of the Rapid Reaction Force, EU battle groups and common security policies, and in Ireland through the use of Shannon airport by US troops on their way to wage war in Iraq. I find it very telling that the Government did not even try to secure a specific article in the Lisbon Treaty explicitly recognising the rights and duties of neutral states within the Union. Its lip service to neutrality over the years has undermined our reputation abroad in regard to an independent foreign policy and peacekeeping. The EU's military ambitions are set out clearly in the Lisbon Treaty and include a common foreign and security policy and improved military capabilities. This is something to which the majority of people in this country are opposed.

The Lisbon Treaty is not in Ireland's interests. It involves a massive transfer of power to the EU. It significantly accelerates the militarisation of the EU and advances an economic agenda based on a race to the bottom for wages and workers' rights. I call on everyone in this Chamber who shares these concerns to oppose this treaty.