Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

I welcome the opportunity to address the Seanad on the Report of the Sub-Committee on Ireland's Future in the European Union, particularly as it is now less than two days until the European Council meets in Brussels. It has been clear to us all along that the Government had no intention of addressing the concerns of the electorate about the Lisbon treaty and instead set itself on a course to re-run the referendum. At no point in the past six months did the Taoiseach even ask any EU leader to renegotiate the treaty, nor did the Government even consider the option of using the strong mandate it was given for the good of this country.

It is clear that later this week the Taoiseach will announce his intention to ignore the democratically expressed views of the electorate and hold a second referendum on the Lisbon treaty. It is also clear that he will be supported in this by the Green Party, the Labour Party and Fine Gael. I listened with interest to the Dáil debate on the report during which members of Fine Gael said that if they had their way, I would not have been involved in the subcommittee. I am glad that the same type of language has not been used in this House. I commend the chairperson of the committee, Senator Donohoe, on the way he conducted the meetings, although we disagreed on many occasions.

There is deep anger among the people at the arrogance of the Government and its mishandling of the current economic crisis, but this will be worsened if it pursues such a high handed, undemocratic course. The Irish people voted for a better deal and that deal should have been delivered by the Government. The almost 1 million people who rejected the Lisbon treaty and those who voted for it but respected the democratic outcome will make their views known in next year's European elections.

The sub-committee provided the opportunity for a deep and meaningful engagement with the public on the direction of the European Union but instead it was a missed opportunity. Its report was always going to mirror the views of the Government, given the limited terms of reference and refusal to engage with wider public opinion to understand its views.

Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Oireachtas sub-committee, I warned against the Government's attempt to reshape the public debate on the Lisbon treaty away from the treaty to one on Ireland's membership of the EU. I also emphasised that the debate must be led by members of the public and not politicians who are, as was clear from the referendum result, out of touch with ordinary people. Critically, we must use the outcome of this debate to inform and change Government policy on the EU that reflects the Irish people's views on its future.

Sinn Féin took a constructive and positive role in the work the sub-committee. However, we made it clear from the outset that we would not be part of any sham to set aside the democratic wishes of the Irish electorate. Sinn Féin was concerned that it was the Government's intention, with the support of the Labour Party, Fine Gael and the Green Party, to use this sub-committee as a space to prepare the groundwork for a re-run of Lisbon. We argued that the terms of reference were too restrictive and that the focus of the debate should be the future of the EU and Ireland's role in shaping that future. The Government and the other parties rejected our proposals for more inclusive terms of reference.

The founding principles of EU were and must continue to be peace and prosperity. We want to see Ireland continue to play a central role in shaping the future of the EU in the interests of all its citizens. We are ambitious for what we, as a small member state, can achieve in the interest of all the people of the EU.

It is important to emphasise Sinn Féin's view that Ireland's place is at the heart of the European Union. We want the Irish Government and people to play a central role in shaping the future of the European Union. Our policy of critical engagement means supporting those aspects of EU policy and development that are good for Ireland and the EU while opposing and working to change those policies and developments that are not in our collective interests. For Sinn Féin that means changing the present course of the European Union. We want to move it away from the centralising, privatising and militarising direction it is currently taking, in favour of a more democratic, social and peaceful road, promoting prosperity and equality for all.

In addition to seeking broader terms of reference, Sinn Féin also wanted to see a proactive public engagement, and a debate that reflected the diversity of opinions on the European Union that were clearly evident during the referendum campaign. Unfortunately, neither of those things occurred. The sub-committee adopted a rigid and exclusive format, inviting witnesses to appear before the committee to be interrogated. The meetings were all held in Leinster House with limited public attendance and no avenue for meaningful public engagement.

Sinn Féin argued that the sub-committee should travel across the country and meet in different venues including public libraries, schools, universities, community centres and places of work. We argued that rather than the adversarial witness approach, the sessions should take the form of an ongoing dialogue. Unfortunately, all of those proposals were rejected. As a consequence, the sessions were on most occasions simply a rerun of the debates of the Lisbon treaty referendum campaign itself, involving many of the same well known public faces, with little new content.

Worse still was the incredible imbalance in the witnesses who attended the sub-committee. Of the more than 100 individuals who addressed it, only a handful of voices were critical of the Lisbon treaty. While some speakers or organisations did not adopt a formal position either way, the overwhelming majority of those who spoke at the committee were clearly in support of the treaty. Having excluded the general public and selected a panel of speakers that held the Government's view, it is hardly surprising that the sub-committee's official report merely confirmed the Government's position. The report could have been written by any of the pro-Lisbon treaty parties on the committee without having to go through the charade of dozens of sessions over eight weeks.

Sinn Féin did not support the report produced by the sub-committee. Instead, we produced our own report, Majority View — Minority Report — The Future of the EU and Ireland's role in shaping that future. The report sets out in detail the challenges facing Ireland and the EU and the mechanism we believe could have been used to address the concerns of the electorate on key issues such as maintaining our political strength, protecting neutrality, workers' rights, public services and tax sovereignty. It is clear that those issues can only be addressed in a new treaty, which includes legally-binding protocols and not declarations or clarifications that are not worth the paper on which they are written.

In Sinn Féin's view the Government and Opposition parties have abused the Oireachtas, cynically manipulating the sub-committee in order to set the ground for a rerun of the Lisbon treaty. In so doing they have done a great disservice to the Irish people and the European Union as a whole. The sub-committee could have provided an invaluable opportunity to open up a meaningful and wide-ranging debate on the future of the EU and Ireland's place in that future. We could have extended the debate beyond the narrow confines of the Lisbon treaty, a treaty democratically rejected by the electorate, and created a vibrant and forward-looking dialogue on a broad range of policy issues. Instead, the Government closed down the debate. As a result, the sub-committee's official report will add nothing either to our understanding of the EU, the Lisbon treaty or the various options that currently exist for the future of the EU. It is a missed opportunity.