Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

While a debate on the referendum Bill on the Lisbon treaty, in respect of which there has been ongoing discussion in the House, has been arranged, I wish to comment on recent polls detailing how narrow the vote on the referendum will be. Judging from the experience of the first Nice treaty referendum, people either do not tend to turn out or vote "No" when there is a lack of information. When there was full information before the second Nice treaty referendum, people turned out and voted "Yes".

We are in the phase of "Lisbon II" because there has been a period of disinformation and misinformation by the "No" campaign. It is important to record a significant lie made by the "No" campaign, namely, that the Lisbon treaty would jeopardise the 12.5% corporation tax rate. While the economy may be fragile, such statements are not only misleading, but entirely untrue.