Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

Liam Cosgrave was the first Taoiseach to address both Houses of Congress, followed by Garret FitzGerald on 15 March 1984 and John Bruton on 11 December 1996. I appreciate this is an important event and I do not wish to take from that. The Taoiseach also has other appointments, not least with the Mahon tribunal, and these are a distraction but this referendum is important to Ireland and to Europe.

The Taoiseach could announce a date for the referendum without waiting for the adoption of the referendum Bill or the making of the referendum order. I urge him to do so. By fixing a date he could allow the debate to begin. If the referendum is held before the summer it will be like the first Nice treaty referendum, when there will not be enough time for proper information to be provided to the public in the form of facts on the treaty. The procrastination on fixing a date now appears to be leading to a situation where the referendum may be delayed until the autumn. That would be most unfortunate because it would allow much of the misinformation currently being circulated to gain currency. I fully endorse the call in The Irish Times today for the speedy establishment of the referendum commission. In the interim, however, I ask the Leader to address the issue of legislation and the fixing of a referendum date.