Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I have discussed this with the ambassador. As I said, I welcome the accession of Croatia. Even Mr. Haughey did not claim a foot in it.

I welcome the opportunity to speak to the Bill. Until Senator David Norris spoke, there was a deafening consensus of support for it. Even he gave it qualified support. He certainly supported the accession of Croatia.

There are many aspects to the Bill and the amendments to be made to EU treaties. The focus has been on the European Stability Mechanism, ESM, which generated considerable debate during the referendum on the stability treaty. Like others who canvassed door-to-door in Dublin and colleagues who canvassed all over Ireland, I am aware of the heated and intense debate that took place, a large part of which concerned access to the ESM, which was a core issue.

I take issue with Senator David Norris's assertion that the people voted for the stability treaty out of fear. There was also hope that we would find our way out of the economic crisis in the country and the eurozone. There was hope the stability treaty would form not a panacea but a piece of the jigsaw puzzle in resolving the economic difficulties. I encountered much hopefulness among those voting in favour of it. There was hope we would not need access to the ESM, a pragmatic recognition that it was in our interests to ensure it would be available as a safety net should we need it and an understanding the Government was working hard to ensure we would not. All of these attitudes were evident in the debate.

The debate on the Bill is more muted. We have had the big debate on the stability treaty and the ESM. We are all glad to see the emphasis being placed on the growth agenda, to which the Tánaiste referred. The socialist victory in France has brought it much more to the fore than when we first debated the treaty in isolation. We all want to see a growth package alongside the stability treaty.

Others have spoken about these aspects of the treaty. I also want to refer to the part of it that will have the most impact on Ireland. I had somewhat mixed feelings about the protocol to meet the concerns of the people following the Lisbon treaty referendum and the legal guarantees contained in it. I did not believe much of the anti-Lisbon treaty rhetoric about the threat it posed in terms of our children being conscripted into a European army, for example. There was a sticker on a lamp-post near my home, "Vote 'No' or your children will be taken into a European army". The rhetoric used was very misleading. I considered that some of the legal guarantees were unnecessary. The protocol was, essentially, a tidying-up exercise. I am glad to see the taxation element of the protocol, as there did seem, at certain points, to be more of a threat. Therefore, the people will be reassured to see this aspect. As the Tánaiste said, the fact that the protocol is being inserted in the treaties shows that the European Union has fulfilled a promise made at the time and that commitments given are being met.

I welcome the Bill, the happiest part of which is the forthcoming accession of Croatia.