Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I extend my condolences to the family of Dr. Hillery because he was a man I always admired. I congratulate Senator Cannon on his elevation to leadership of his political party in the early hours of this morning.

For the past two days I have been in Brussels. As Fine Gael is part of the largest group of political parties in Europe, we meet other political parties across Europe with whom we are closely aligned in the European Parliament on a regular basis. There is confidence in Europe that somehow the Lisbon treaty will find its way through. We are in great danger on this island of losing the Lisbon treaty because of our complacency. The Government has been incredibly complacent about it. The comments made about the World Trade Organisation should be taken seriously and Mr. Mandelson could be a threat to the treaty being passed because we are not responding to concerns raised by the IFA. The Taoiseach has stated he will raise the issue of taxation with President Barroso this afternoon. All this is unnecessary and gives the impression we are not in control of events.

In Brussels I discovered that we are part of a larger family of 27 countries and that many of the smaller countries have the same position and the same concerns as Ireland. They feel the same way on many of the issues raised in this country, such as taxation and the European army. They are far more in tune with our position and we should contact these countries to encourage them to state publicly what they say in private — that they support us. It would be much more appropriate for Ministers to make known in Ireland the support of these countries. That is how we will get the Lisbon treaty passed.

There is an idea that the EU is what Germany, France and the United Kingdom think. It is far from that. Most of the European treaties up to this point have been about economicissues and have never damaged Ireland's economy. The Lisbon treaty has a major economic workload in it. It will not damage Ireland's economy. We should make this clear to the Irish people.

The Government has been too complacent about this. The Charter of Fundamental Rights is a major part of the treaty. When we see parties that claim to have a left-wing leaning opposing the treaty that consolidates the civil and human rights of people across Europe, one must ask if they are poorly informed or trying to mislead the people. This will consolidate the human rights of EU citizens. I feel more secure that Europe would defend my civil rights rather than some of the Governments we have had in this country in the past. We have seen Europe being a greater defender of the civil rights of Irish people than the Irish Government. We should get that message out to the people of Ireland.

There are concerns about the economy. We sought a debate and to meet the Minister for Finance in the House on a bi-annual basis to discuss what is happening. Can the Leader provide an update on this possibility? I do not refer to the Minister appearing during a debate on the Finance Bill. The Minister should attend separate debates in the House on events in the economy. Whether the issue is one of pensions, inflation or competitiveness, we are beginning to falter in a way that has not been seen in 15 years. We must discuss this matter clearly.