Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 256: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the provisions of the EURATOM Treaty and their implications for Ireland; if the Lisbon treaty is affected in any way by the EURATOM Treaty; if there are proposals to review the EURATOM Treaty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17223/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Treaties of Rome, signed in March 1957, are the basis of the European Economic Community, now the European Community, and the European Atomic Energy Community, referred to as EURATOM. Ireland is party to these Treaties.

EURATOM was created to establish the conditions for the peaceful, civil development of nuclear energy in Europe by sharing resources (funds, knowledge, materials, experts etc.), protecting the general public and associating other countries and international organisations in this work. Ireland is a non-nuclear country and that status is not affected by the terms of EURATOM.

EURATOM is legally distinct from the European Community although they are served by common institutions.

The Reform Treaty does not affect the status of EURATOM as a separate legal entity. As with all previous EU amending Treaties, the Reform Treaty makes technical adjustments to the institutional provisions of EURATOM. These are contained in a Protocol to the Treaty. Therefore, the Reform Treaty effects no change in substance to EURATOM. Accordingly, there is no change arising for Ireland insofar as EURATOM is concerned.

The Government would have favoured a review of EURATOM leading to a significant updating of its provisions. However, there was no consensus in support of this during the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) negotiations on the Reform Treaty.