Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 101: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the moneys that will be available to the Referendum Commission for the forthcoming Lisbon Treaty referendum campaign; the overall budget for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10309/08]

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 152: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, in the forthcoming Lisbon Treaty referendum campaign, the Referendum Commission will be putting forward arguments both for and against the proposed amendment to the Constitution, or if it will only be giving a factual account of the proposed changes without arguments for either side; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10308/08]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 271: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the public consultation and public information that will be provided to the public on the Lisbon Treaty in advance of the referendum. [10026/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 101, 152 and 271 together.

Under the Referendum Act 2001, the Referendum Commission is expected to prepare statements containing a general explanation of the subject matter of the referendum and to publish and distribute these statements, including by print and broadcast media. The 2001 Act supersedes the Referendum Act 1998, under which the Commission had the role of setting out the arguments for and against referendum proposals. As a result, the Commission no longer has to carry out this function. The budget provided for the Referendum Commission will be approximately €5 million. This represents an increase of more than 20 per cent over the amount provided to the Commission for its work on the second Nice referendum. I believe it will allow the Referendum Commission to carry out its work properly. A further €0.8million has been allocated from the budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs for expenditure this year in connection with the Reform Treaty.

There is no shortage of information on the Reform Treaty. The Government has been providing information to the public on the Treaty and this effort will be stepped up in the period ahead. An explanatory pamphlet was published in December and last month a 22-page guide to the Treaty was published. These are being widely distributed to the public, including through libraries, citizens' advice centres and Government Departments and, as stated above, the effort to provide explanatory material is being stepped up. A White Paper on the Treaty will be published at the beginning of next month containing a detailed analysis of the Treaty's provisions. A dedicated website, www.reformtreaty.ie has been established which contains comprehensive information about the Treaty.

I would like to make it clear also that, despite claims to the contrary, a consolidated version of the Treaties is available. This is published by the Institute of European Affairs and I have made arrangements to have a copy sent to every Oireachtas member. A copy has also been sent to every public library in the country. The National Forum on Europe is continuing to hold public meetings throughout the country, providing a neutral public space for debate on the Treaty. The Forum has also published a summary guide to the Treaty. The Forum's impressive programme, with two meetings taking place this week, will be maintained in the weeks ahead.

The Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs has also announced a programme of public meetings on the Treaty which will take place in April and May. It has also been holding an extensive series of information meetings with various interest groups. Additionally, the Minister of State for European Affairs and I have briefed the Committee on the Reform Treaty on a number of occasions in recent months.