We can come back to him again at a later stage, if he is available and wishes to address the committee. He is not available to address the committee and we were talking in terms of for and against. Many of those who appear to be pro the treaty are in fact analysts and they have analysed it on the basis of claims made. That seems to cast them in the role of supporters of the treaty, but it is not necessarily so. On the basis of their evaluation of the treaty, they have decided that it means X,Y and Z and this is their conclusion. The correspondence is noted and I presume that we will contact him in the event that he becomes available. Is that agreed? Agreed.
No. 93 is a letter to the Chairman from Mr. Anthony Coughlan, of the National Platform, in relation to the Lisbon reform treaty. I propose to note it and it will be taken into account in the compilation of the report. Is that agreed?Agreed. No. 94 is a letter to the Chairman from Ms Mary Lou McDonald, MEP, regarding the committee’s regional meetings on the Lisbon reform treaty, and No. 100 is an e-mail from Ms Sinéad Ní Bhroin of the Sinn Féin press office in relation to the committee’s public sittings. Ms Ní Bhroin and Ms McDonald request that the committee would facilitate members of Sinn Féin in taking an active role in presenting the “No” side of the argument in the committee’s public sittings. There is no representative of Sinn Féin present to comment, but Sinn Féin Members of the Oireachtas have a right to attend this committee meeting and will have a right to attend public meetings held by the committee as well.
I do not want a press officer from Sinn Féin, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, the Labour Party or any other political party. I am sure committee members would prefer to do the job, but members may decide to go down that route. I suggest that Members of the Oireachtas, who are not members of the committee but who wish to sit on the platform at the regional meetings can do so. Is that agreed? Agreed.
