John Whelan (Labour)

As I understood it, the Fianna Fáil Party on the Order of Business yesterday was united and unequivocal in its support for the referendum. However, by teatime all that support had evaporated and septic tanks, turf cutting and everything, bar the kitchen sink, have been thrown into the equation and support is clearly conditional. It is a dangerous to raise people's expectations on what is and is not in the treaty. The promissory notes have nothing to do with the treaty as Senator Mooney is well aware.

To say to the people that if we play hard ball on this we get a good deal and a good cut-off from the EU is a dangerous tack. Clearly we do not know whether the Micheál Martin wing is supporting the referendum; but the Éamon Ó Cuív wing, which is a substantial wing-----