Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Leader of the House for arranging a debate on the outcome of the Lisbon reform treaty referendum so speedily. When we applied for membership of the then European Economic Community back in the 1960s we were rebuffed on at least one occasion. The French refused to accept Britain and Ireland at that time. However, that did not stop us from going back and applying again. We were eventually accepted and have become leading members of the European Union. A democratic decision was taken last Thursday by a tight margin. There is, however, nothing in the Constitution to prevent a question being put to the people twice. It happened in the divorce referendum when people voted "No" initially and "Yes" when the question was put again. It was easier to put the "No" point of view in the first campaign and to defeat that proposal at that time because I was on that side of the campaign. The Nice treaty was rejected in the first referendum and then accepted. We should have very careful consideration. Time is on our side. Most of the provisions of the Lisbon reform treaty do not come into place until well into the future.

People did not get the full picture. The fact that the treaty document was not circulated to every home was damaging to the campaign because people wondered what there was to hide. Whether it was read or not does not matter. People must have the document. They were voting on the reform treaty and surely they needed a copy. There is no point asking people to go to a library, post office or Garda station. The people on the "No" side said they had the treaty and would provide copies. These are the lessons that must be learned.

I was not impressed by the Referendum Commission's advertising campaign showing photographs of half bodies with the slogan "Get the full story". This implied people did not have the full story and something was being hidden. The advertising agency which prepared those advertisements should be reviewed as to whether it will be appointed in the next campaign. We will have that debate later.

As former Deputy Frank Cluskey said when people asked him how he lost his seat, "I didn't get enough votes". We did not get enough votes last Thursday and hopefully we will have another opportunity in the next 12 or 18 months to put this case before the people and decide when we get full and careful clarification and consideration on all the issues raised. It is a shame the Charter of Fundamental Rights was so misrepresented that it would allow the introduction of abortion, which is totally prohibited under section 40 of the Constitution. It was a shameful exercise by the "No" campaigners. So be it. We fought it out, the game is over for now but let us have a rematch.