Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, to the House. I commend him on his speech and the detail therein and for his work on this campaign. He has campaigned throughout the country on the Lisbon treaty. Very few people have the knowledge of the Minister of State of the content of the treaty. He has made a very big impression and did so when he canvassed with me in County Roscommon recently. I also commend Senator Cummins for a fine report on the background to the charter and his rebuttal of many of the issues that were raised by other organisations.

The Lisbon treaty will result in greater recognition for two different, already existing, human rights documents. Some confusion has arisen between these two documents and it is important, therefore, to briefly discuss the different nature and origin of the two, before explaining why the greater recognition of both of these texts is one of the most compelling, and regrettably overlooked, reasons to support the treaty.

The European Convention on Human Rights entered into force in 1953 and created the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The ECHR is the cornerstone of human rights protection in Europe and the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, including Ireland, are parties to the convention. The convention was incorporated into Irish domestic law by the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003.

The Lisbon treaty will require the EU to accede to the Council of Europe's European Convention on Human Rights. This means that the institutions of the EU, when making and implementing EU law, will be subject to the same judicial control in respect of human rights as the individual State parties to the convention. An individual EU citizen will be able to make a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg against the EU. Citizens will also retain the right to make a complaint against their own country. At a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in April, the assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of a report and resolution which I proposed on the accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights, thus setting in motion what the Lisbon treaty will complete.

The ECHR and its permanent court have already contributed greatly to the vindication of human rights in Europe and to the improvement of domestic legislation in areas such as freedom of expression, criminal procedure and sexual orientation. The accession of the EU to the ECHR will add to the accountability and transparency of the European Union. The possible scrutiny of the actions of the Union's institutions by independent judges of the European Court of Human Rights can only strengthen the democratic credentials of Europe.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights, which we are discussing this evening, sets out the civil, political, economic and social rights recognised by the EU, including the rights that citizens currently enjoy under EU treaties and related case law, the European Convention on Human Rights; the social charters of the Union and the Council of Europe and the constitutional traditions and international obligations common of the member states. The charter was agreed at a special convention which met in 1999 and 2000 and was subsequently approved by the institutions of the EU. Currently, it is a political document that is not legally binding or judiciable.

The charter is a simple and excellent document. It covers some areas which are not explicitly mentioned by other human rights documents. It makes provision for questions which arise in light of modern medical technology which are not explicitly catered for in our Constitution or the ECHR. It specifies a right to the protection of personal data concerning a citizen. In light of recent losses of such data by various institutions throughout the EU it is particularly appropriate that this should be in the consideration of the EU bodies when legislating. The charter also specifies that "The Union shall respect cultural, religious and linguistic diversity".

The Lisbon treaty gives the charter the same legal value as the main treaties. It will enable the European Court of Justice, based in Luxembourg, to use the charter as a reference point on human rights. The principles of the charter will apply to EU member states only when they are implementing EU law. EU law only exists in areas in which the member states specifically grant the Union competency. The Government's White Paper on the Lisbon treaty verifies that the Charter "does not extend the field of application of Union law beyond the powers of the Union or establish any new power or task for the Union". Therefore, the Court of Justice will only review the actions of the member states when they fall within the scope of Union law, including fundamental rights standards. In addition, as with the ECHR, in practice the charter will be used primarily as a reference for national courts and with reference to its interpretation by the Irish Supreme Court.

There has been some speculation as to why the charter specifies rights in areas in which the EU has no competency or power. For example, the right to marry and found a family, the right to criminal due process and the right to health care are all specified in the charter but the EU has no jurisdiction in these areas. This has led some commentators to suggest that the European Court of Justice will be granted powers which would eclipse those of our Supreme Court.

However, the text of Article 51 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights is unambiguous. It is addressed to the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union with due regard for the principle of subsidiarity and to the member states only when they are implementing Union law. It is a natural consequence of the roots of the charter that it is a broad exposition of human rights. The completeness of the text in no way means that the scope of its jurisdiction can be beyond the limits specified by the charter itself. The granting of legal status to the charter is simply a consolidation of well-established principles as the charter is by its nature is a codification of rights already enjoyed by EU citizens at domestic and European level. The European Parliament, in its rules of procedure, has committed itself to being bound by the charter when exercising its legislative function. The European Commission also considers itself bound by the charter.

Many points made by opponents of the Lisbon treaty are a distortion of the facts. Some parties claim the full incorporation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights will lead to the legalisation of abortion. However, a protocol to the Lisbon treaty provides that nothing in the treaty shall affect the application in Ireland of Article 40.3.3° of the Constitution. This was confirmed by the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, who has an expertise in this area. While he allayed the fears of many in this regard, those making the false claims are guided neither by the Pope nor the archbishops. They have their own theological assessment of the situation.

Some claim the charter will affect Irish sovereignty in decisions concerning marriage and the family. Article 9 of the charter states, "the right to marry and the right to found a family shall be guaranteed in accordance with national laws governing the exercise of these rights." The explanation of this article, also incorporated in the Lisbon treaty, states, "this article neither prohibits nor imposes the granting of the status of marriage to unions between people of the same sex."

The legal recognition of the Charter of Fundamental Rights proposed in the Lisbon treaty is a compelling argument in favour of the treaty and should enjoy widespread support. It will not drastically change the nature of our rights and obligations. The scope of its application is clearly limited by Article 51 of the charter itself and provisions such as the protocol on abortion. The document is essentially a consolidation of rights already enjoyed by citizens of all EU countries.

It will fully and formally recognise the criteria for the protection of human rights which the EU must abide by and recognise. Coupled with the accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights, it will provide two strong, independent, Europe-wide human rights safeguard mechanisms. These are very strong grounds for supporting the ratification of the Lisbon treaty on Thursday week. People often ask me what is in the treaty for them. The treaty will guarantee their rights through the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Ireland will have an historic decision to make on 12 June. To vote "Yes" will keep Ireland in the heart of Europe. I hope people will come out in strength to vote "Yes" on 12 June.