Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 46: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the purpose of the Government's White Paper on the proposed EU constitution; when he expects the White Paper to be discussed in Dáil Éireann; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33567/05]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 60: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the period of reflection on the proposed EU constitution which it is intended to achieve; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33562/05]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 87: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the date which is favoured for a referendum on the European constitution; and the date which the Government has decided for publication of a White Paper in this regard. [33487/05]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 140: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which he and his European colleagues have prepared a strategy for the adoption of the European constitution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33706/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to answer Questions Nos. 46, 60, 87 and 140 together.

The White Paper on the European Constitution, which was published on 13 October, is designed to give a fair and factual description of the constitution and an outline of the broad approach taken by Ireland to its negotiation. It has been widely distributed, including to schools, libraries, public representatives, and voluntary and non-governmental organisations. It is available to the public without charge on request from my Department and from the website www.europeanconstitution.ie. The issues the constitution addresses are directly relevant to Ireland and the EU as a whole and notwithstanding that the ratification process has been delayed, we have published the White Paper as a contribution to public information as part of the period of reflection.

The period of reflection was agreed by the June European Council in the wake of the French and Dutch referendum results in order to allow a debate take place in each country involving citizens, civil society, social partners, national parliaments and political parties. As a contribution to this wider national debate, there will be a Dáil debate on Europe and the Constitution on 23 November which will provide an opportunity for the White Paper to be discussed.

At the EU level, Ministers for European Affairs had a discussion in Brussels on Monday 7 November at which they exchanged views about the conduct of the national debates across the Union. The Heads of State and Government agreed at last June's European Council to return to the issue of the constitution in the first half of 2006 when they will make an overall assessment of the national debates and agree on how to proceed. It is important to let this process take its course. Until the position at European level becomes clearer, it is not intended to set a date for a referendum in Ireland. A similar approach has been adopted by those other member states which intend to ratify the constitution by referendum.