Senators:

The Senator should go back and speak to the Minister for the Economy, Finance and Employment about what she said and should bring my best regards to her. Christine Lagarde, to my astonishment, speaks fluent English. I met her twice. I do not know why she did what she did but she is a practical thinking person. If the Senator calls her and informs her that what she said is not applicable to the Lisbon treaty, she will quickly understand.

Senators:

The Senator is correct, we must be near to the people. However, politicians alone cannot do this. We need the support of the media and, in particular, television. In Germany, television programmes while not nationalised are home country orientated. I share the Senator's conviction that television should be used more to provide information about the European Union and world politics.

Senators:

Senator Alex White of the Labour Party spoke about Berlin. I am happy he remembers what I said in respect of Berlin; it is the truth. As somebody from the western part of Lower Saxony I first visited west Berlin in 1962. The wall was built on 13 August 1961. It is against nature to erect a wall and to block people from going from one area to another. For example, in 1976, 15 years after the wall had been built, some 50 buses carrying a youth organisation from my party visited Berlin. Only two buses were permitted to cross the Communist border to eastern Germany. The bus on which I was travelling as Chairman of the youth organisation from my region was permitted to cross the border. I will tell Members why. I know of Ireland's history with the British. I say this because we must always tell the truth. On the bus on which I was travelling was a young boy from the United States of America and a young girl from the United Kingdom. The Communists did not dare to send our bus away because the Americans and British had a special status in Berlin. I realised how important it was that Germany always had the support of the Americans, the British, the French and Ireland. I thank Dick Roche and Gerard Collins whom I mentioned earlier, for their contributions.

Senators:

While national boundaries are important, they are not the most important. Self determination of the people is what is most important. Self determination of the people means the people have the right to make decisions in respect of liberty and their own way of living and we must defend this at all times.

Senators:

The issue of red tape was mentioned. In Germany, the European Commission is regarded as bureaucratic. It is sometimes right to criticise the Commission. President Barroso who does an excellent job will visit Ireland next week. If I am welcome, I will come back next week to meet our political friends in Fine Gael.