Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, to the House. The failure to ratify the Lisbon treaty poses significant economic, social and political challenges for the country. We must pause and understand the implications for the national interest. The terms of reference for the sub-committee are designed to enable us to look to our future within Europe, evaluate our attitudes to the project of the European Union and reassert the role of the Houses of the Oireachtas in this process. The House can and should play a greater role in European affairs. The establishment of this committee is timely, but the mechanism may not be correct. I listened with interest to the comments of Senator O'Toole during the Order of Business and I wonder why the Minister for Foreign Affairs did not ask the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs to set up a sub-committee, rather than go through this process. However, the establishment of the sub-committee is necessary. A very demanding deadline is in place for the sub-committee to report. It is vital that this work is done well, but I question why the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs was not asked to form a sub-committee to deal with this matter. It probably could have dealt with the matter more expeditiously than today's proceedings. We support the establishment of the sub-committee, but we have reservations about the manner in which it has been established.