Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I welcome Dr. Stephen Kinsella, from the Kemmy Business School at the Department of Economics in the University of Limerick, to the House as a rapporteur. In my experience, it is the first time the Seanad has gone in this direction of asserting an independent approach to an important issue.

The context of Senator Healy Eames's speech may apply to future European elections. She is very pro-European, and rightly so. The comments by Commissioner Olli Rehn and others were unhelpful at this time. This treaty is so vital to the interests of the Irish nation that any statements that could deflect from the treaty itself and take votes from a "Yes" campaign are very damaging at this stage. While it may be unprecedented, the Government should publish the Attorney General's recommendation on why it is necessary for us to have a referendum to ratify this treaty. We are unlike the other 24 countries whose governments and parliaments will have the opportunity to ratify this treaty. It puts us in a very unusual position indeed.

The fact that this €3.1 billion promissory note is materialising at the end of March makes it extremely difficult politically for those in favour of the treaty to secure a "Yes" vote. The Government would be well advised not to hold the referendum until this autumn. That would give the public time to reflect on the consequences of the decision to be made by them. It is an enormous responsibility for every citizen. Fianna Fáil called for this referendum because the people must have a say in this regard. Their future is at stake in this referendum. People will vote according to the information available and in the best interests of the country and in their own best interests. It would be preferable to be inside looking out, rather than outside looking in.

It will be a laborious campaign because each item will be discussed in great detail. Each word will be analysed and everyone will have a view in this regard. A key aspect of this treaty is that 12 countries can ratify it, so we have no veto. The point is that we are either in or we are out. We might decide to stay out on the basis of issues affecting different constituencies, a point made by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Leo Varadkar, who said referendums were fought not on the main issues but on others. We found this to be the case in the first Lisbon treaty referendum when we had to take the decision to go back to the people a second time. The leader of Fianna Fáil, Deputy Micheál Martin, led the second campaign, having carried out meticulous research. I compliment the major Opposition party at the time and also the Labour Party which were in favour of the treaty. In fact, Deputy Joe Costello, now a Minister of State, was very strong on certain aspects of labour law, an issue that arose during the campaign, and his knowledge of that field was very persuasive. Because of our combined efforts, we succeeded, which was very important.

Article 12 of the fiscal compact treaty states: "The Heads of State or Government of the Contracting Parties, other than those whose currency is the euro, who have ratified this Treaty shall participate in discussions of Euro Summit meetings concerning competitiveness for the Contracting Parties". This means that the Taoiseach or the relevant Minister would be left outside the door while the representatives of those countried which had ratified and signed the treaty would be inside discussing the issues to be discussed.

Senator Fidelma Healy Eames asked why the deputy leader of China had come to Ireland. I will explain. The only friend of the Chinese in this region in the 1950s was Mr. Frank Aiken. We led China into the United Nations, even though major pressure was being exerted within the State. However, there was no mistake in the decision he made. I accept that we are an English speaking nation on the western seaboard of Europe and closely linked to America, but we should be very proud of this aspect and recognise the links-----