Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I wish to follow up on what has been said regarding the Lisbon treaty. A new element has been introduced by an organisation, Cóir, relating to the primacy of EU law. Reference has been made by this organisation to a declaration 17 of the Lisbon treaty, which reiterates the existing position on the primacy of EU law. This is what we signed up to when we joined the European Union in 1973. The wording in our Constitution resulting from the referendum of 1972 states that no EU law can be invalidated if it is necessitated by our membership of the community. That principle was established before we entered the community by a court judgment, Costa v. ENEL, in 1964. The declaration refers to that case and implies that to have a community where EU law does not have primacy would be meaningless. Why adopt laws at European level if they cannot be applied and enforced throughout the community?

However, this has been misconstrued. On the basis of that false premise the organisation has suggested that the European Court could introduce abortion in Ireland——