Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

Like the majority of people on this island I believe that Ireland's place is in Europe. Many benefits have come as a result of our membership of the European Union. Continued co-operation with our European partners is essential if we are to meet the challenges facing us in the future. It is certain that regardless of the outcome of the referendum, Ireland's place in the European Union will be secure.

It is now just more than six weeks to the day of the referendum and only 5% of the Irish electorate say they understand the Lisbon treaty. This speaks volumes about the Government's handling of the referendum. Let us examine the debate which has taken place in the Oireachtas. It has dragged on for weeks, squeezed in before and after other legislation, and with no real focus. It is not an overstatement to suggest that the majority of people are as unaware of the debate inside this Chamber as they are of the treaty itself.

People need information if they are to make an informed choice. I accept the treaty is technical and unwieldy, but a bigger problem is that the majority of citizens will not even have seen the treaty, never mind read it, before polling day. The Government is taking the electorate for fools and it is unacceptable.

When one pares it back, the biggest reason to vote "No" to this treaty is that it gives the EU too much power. We are giving up too much and getting far too little in return. How could it be in Ireland's interest to lose our automatic right to a Commissioner, to cut our voting strength on the Council by half, to hand over power to unelected officials and to change the future direction of the European Union without recourse to a new treaty or referenda? The Irish negotiators failed to stand up for Ireland's interests. However, we can secure a better deal if we vote "No" on 12 June.

I wish to address the serious implications for rural Ireland if this treaty is passed. It is not an over-statement to say that rural Ireland is suffering a death by a thousand cuts and while the key responsibility for this lies with the Government, the decisions of unelected EU leaders are also having a major impact. Let us examine what has happened in recent years. EU policy has led to the closure of the sugar beet industry. The EU is also actively undermining the provision of vital services to rural communities, including post offices.

EU policy has become synonymous with red tape and bureaucracy, due to which rural Ireland is suffering. The farming community and rural Ireland are significantly concerned by the World Trade Organisation negotiations. There is considerable resentment at the approach of Commissioner Peter Mandelson. It is part of a pattern that emerged under his predecessors, Mr. Pascal Lamy and Sir Leon Brittan, and that will continue after he has gone. This agenda promotes free trade aggressively irrespective of the cost to family farms in rural communities or the world's poorest countries.

How will the Lisbon treaty affect this issue? Its passing will strengthen Commissioner Mandelson's hand. Article 2 gives the EU exclusive competence over commercial policy, including the negotiation of international trade agreements. Article 188 gives the Commission power to initiate and conclude negotiations, including international trade agreements, and transfers the final decisions on such agreements from the unanimity principle to qualified majority voting at the Council of Ministers, thus ending the State's veto. It is a critical matter, as the ability of future Governments to protect farming will be removed. Article 10A mandates "the progressive abolition of restrictions on international trade" to be one of the EUs guiding principles in its interaction with non-EU states. Restrictions would include agricultural subsidies, preferential treatment for developing world companies in government procurement contracts or environmental and worker protections.

Last week, the leader of Fine Gael, Deputy Kenny, spoke at the National Forum on Europe and called on the Government to use its veto at the Council if the outcome of the WTO trade talks was bad for Irish farming. What he did not tell farmers is that if the Lisbon treaty is passed, the veto will be gone. In future rounds of WTO talks, farmers will ask why Fine Gael urged them to support a treaty that was clearly not in their interests. To make matters worse, Ireland will lose a Commissioner for five years out of every 15 years under the terms of the treaty. When critical matters are being discussed, such as international trade agreements or reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, Ireland may not have a voice at the Commission table. Attempts by the Government and Opposition parties to tell us that the loss of a permanent Commissioner will not make any difference do not wash. Imagine the outcry if the Government told the people of County Donegal that they would have no Deputies for the next five years but that the other counties in the region would look after their interests. It would not be acceptable in that case and should not be acceptable in this instance.

Government claims that it is not practical or efficient to have 27 Commissioners is a nonsense. There are 15 Ministers and 20 Ministers of State for a population of fewer than 5 million people. It seems more than credible and necessary to have 27 Commissioners to represent more than 500 million people. The Government does not want people to know that Ireland's voting strength on the Council of Ministers will be reduced by 50%. In comparison, Germany, France, Britain and Italy will each nearly double their voting strengths.

Weighing up the increased centralisation of powers, the self-amending articles, the loss of influence of smaller member states and the weak measures offered to member state parliaments and citizens, there is no doubt that the Lisbon treaty is a bad deal for Irish and EU democracy. If ratified, it will deepen the democratic deficit. The treaty should be rejected and negotiators sent back to do a better deal for Ireland and the EU.

Significant challenges lie ahead, but we must face them as full members of the EU. We must secure a better deal for Ireland. I urge Senators and the people to vote "No" in the referendum on 12 June.