Déirdre de Búrca (Green Party)

I welcome the proposed publication of the referendum Bill on the Lisbon treaty tomorrow. It is anticipated that the legislation will come before the House for adoption in the next two weeks. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Foreign Affairs to address the House while the debate on the Bill is taking place. I would welcome clarification from the Minister on a number of issues, for instance, the information that will be provided to households about the treaty. Several parties have pointed out that a copy of the treaty is not available to members of the public in an easily understandable and digestible format. This is a concern.

When the Taoiseach was questioned on the issue he noted that a very good annotated version of the treaty produced by the Institute of European Affairs is available. This is not sufficient. When the referendum commission is established it will have 90 days to perform its functions, one of which will be to provide information on the treaty. It is important the information provided to households can be absorbed and digested. The best information I have seen on the treaty in summary form is the booklet produced by the National Forum on Europe, which is neutral, comprehensive and easy to read. I hope the referendum commission will provide similar information. I ask that the Minister for Foreign Affairs be invited to address the House when we are discussing the referendum Bill in order that we can seek clarification on these issues.

When will the House have a serious debate on the Lisbon treaty and matters arising therefrom? A report this morning indicates that the gas supply to the European Union is threatened again because Ukraine has informed the Union that it may have to interfere with the supplies of gas. The EU receives approximately 25% of its gas supplies from pipelines that come through Ukraine and because of the current debt dispute between Ukraine and Russia the EU's supplies may be interrupted. That points to the need for the European Union to become much more self-sufficient in the area of energy. The Lisbon treaty contains, for the first time, a measure to allow shared competence to exist between the EU and its member states in the area of energy. Those are the issues we should debate fully in the House and I ask the Leader to clarify the opportunities that will be provided to the House in the critical months leading up to the referendum to allow it debate such issues.