David Norris (Independent)

It shows the kind of incremental development. I well remember the time in Paris when at a COSAC meeting I had an engagement with Monsieur Alain Juppé. He rounded on me and said the European Union is not a human rights organisation, it has no human rights competence. This is now incrementally growing and it is to be welcomed.

At the conclusion of the Minister's correspondence he states:

On another matter in which I know you take an interest, [I had raised it with him in a message] I would like to assure you that the promotion and protection of human rights - including those of children and women affected by armed conflict - are integrated fully into the planning and conduct of the EU's civilian and military missions. An outstanding example is the mission in Chad....Support for human rights in areas of armed conflict is an important part of the Government's overall approach to human rights, peace-building and development issues.

This statement is very important. The Minister is committed to arms reduction and to protecting the rights of civilians in these areas.

I wish to raise one or two other issues. I deplore the inactivity of President Václav Klaus. It really is a defiance of democracy that he is still refusing to sign the treaty, despite the express wishes of his elected parliament.

Will the Minister of State look into the wheelie bin controversy of the previous referendum in which 3,000 votes in Donegal went missing? There has been no satisfactory explanation of it or of the responsibilities either of the returning officer or the Garda, despite citizens' concern about this matter.

I have always stated and I still maintain that even if we had voted "No", we could not have been thrown out of the European Union. Even if we had voted "No" we could not have been relegated to second class citizenship, legally or officially. However, the European Union is something that works on political goodwill.