Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I join others in welcoming the Minister for Finance to the House. As is traditional with Senator Twomey and me, I will start with a little rebuttal. This carry-on with the Lisbon treaty must stop. We all have a responsibility in this regard. Senator Donohoe, who chaired the sub-committee on Ireland's future in the EU, which did some fine work, would hardly agree with Senator Twomey's comments. We all have a responsibility to be mature about this matter. Ireland must remain at the heart of Europe. A statement such as the Lisbon treaty has not a snowball's chance in hell of being passed is ridiculous in the extreme, unhelpful and juvenile.