Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

Since this House last sat, the Irish people have exercised their most sovereign right by voting in a referendum. In doing so, they have rejected the Lisbon treaty. We will discuss this in detail later today and there will be much analysis of the reasons for that rejection. However, I take this opportunity to state that we must respect the decision of the people. The vast majority of Members of this and the other House saw the Lisbon treaty proposals as offering great advantages for the State and, therefore, set out to support the Government in securing a positive outcome for the referendum. We did so because we recognised the positive future the Lisbon treaty proposals would create.

For a variety of reasons, however, the people were not persuaded to take the same view as that of the vast majority of Oireachtas Members. We will not have time to do so comprehensively today but we need to analyse the variety of reasons that people rejected the treaty. We must take seriously the concerns that have been expressed. In the last few days of canvassing, I was struck by the significant concerns expressed by women in regard to the defence issues and their fears regarding conscription. I was surprised that people were so concerned by this. It signified an underlying anxiety about the direction in which the European Union is moving. We in the Oireachtas may have debated the issues adequately but as far as the public is concerned, there was insufficient debate to allow them confidently to vote "Yes". That is a shame.

My concern now is that we may see the development of a two-tier Union. Ireland should be at the centre of Europe. We will watch with interest the ongoing reaction from our European partners to this vote and the Government's efforts to resolve the complex issues involved. This issue comes at a critical time. We have always seen our economic future within Europe and we all recognise the advantages the EU has given us. We are facing an extraordinarily serious economic situation, with the collapse of public private partnerships, a stagnant housing market and the highest ever increase in unemployment. Despite claims to the contrary, my colleagues will all agree that we are seeing cutbacks to front-line services. There are cutbacks in home care packages, a lack of contract beds and no speech therapy services in many areas, while area medical officers are not being appointed so no assessments can be made, for example, for domiciliary care allowance and in many parts of Dublin general practitioner services are not available due to the shortage of general practitioners. We need an economic plan and a solution to the Lisbon treaty issue.

I am very concerned that whenever Members on this side of the House have highlighted the economic crisis in recent months the reaction on the Government side of the House has been close to a state of denial. I call on the Taoiseach to come to this House when he returns from his meetings this week and outline his assessment of the economic situation facing the country and his economic plan to deal with the financial crisis we are in at present. That is a priority for this House. I hope the Leader will invite the Taoiseach to the House next week for that purpose.