Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I think we were both involved in canvassing for the fiscal stability treaty in 2012 when we were fresh-faced councillors. I remember the research from that referendum. The two biggest issues of concern that came up were in respect of the fiscal compact treaty were abortion and conscription into an EU army. Those were of absolutely no relevance to the question being put to the people but that is what happens when you allow disinformation and misinformation to fill the gap of silence. We cannot let that happen.

Following the passing of the legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas, the Electoral Commission will be responsible for explaining the referendum proposal in an independent and impartial way. It also has a role to promote public awareness of referenda and encourage people to vote. I look forward to it playing its part, however, we also have to take that political responsibility seriously.

In conclusion, we all know that referenda can become convoluted, but the case for the Unified Patent Court is absolutely obvious. If Ireland wants to continue being a hub for investment and research and if we want to support our researchers, inventors, entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes, involvement in the UPC is how we go about that. It is absolutely vital to the future economic and societal stability of this State that we sign up to the UPC and pass this referendum hopefully by a massive margin.