Deirdre Clune (Fine Gael)

My opinions on the question of a referendum are similar to Senator Paul Coghlan's, in that there is no proposal as yet. Last week's political agreement will be transposed into text before Christmas, after which time the Attorney General will make a wise decision. Yesterday, the Minister, Deputy Noonan, discussed what would happen in the event of a referendum.

The agreement is on introducing further fiscal constraint, budgetary oversight, firewalls, etc. Twenty-six member states will consider the proposals. If Ireland holds a referendum, it is clear that our position in the eurozone will be in question, but our membership of the EU will not. Continuing in the eurozone would not be tenable if our people rejected last week's proposals.