Ar dtús báire, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an gcoiste as ucht an chuireadh bheith leo anseo ar maidin. A Chathaoirligh, a Leas-Chathaoirligh, a Theachtaí Dála agus a Sheanadoirí, I thank you for the opportunity to outline Sinn Féin's considered and reasoned opposition to the Lisbon treaty, to hear members' views and answer their questions as best I can. I hope to convince some members of the merits of our position.
On 12 June 2008 almost 900,000 people in this State rejected the Lisbon treaty. They did so because they believed that it was a bad treaty and because they wanted a better deal for Ireland and for Europe. The result presented the Government with a strong mandate to negotiate a new and better treaty. At the time Sinn Féin presented the Taoiseach, Deputy Brian Cowen, with detailed proposals of how we felt the concerns of the electorate could be met. We outlined ways in which we believe the EU can be made more democratic, more protective of public services and workers' rights, more respectful of this State's neutrality and more responsive to the needs of rural communities and the developing world. What did the Government do? Just like its mismanagement of the economy, it prevaricated, sat on its hands and failed to act appropriately. As a result, the Government has not secured a single change to the text of the Lisbon treaty. On 2 October we will vote on exactly the same treaty as we did last year.
If it was not good enough for the electorate then, why on earth should it be good enough for us now? At the European Council meeting in June of this year, the Government agreed so-called legally binding guarantees on neutrality, taxation and ethical issues. The Government also agreed a so-called solemn declaration on workers' rights and reiterated the promise for every member state to retain a Commissioner. On this basis the "Yes" side argue that the 53% of the electorate who rejected the Lisbon treaty should reconsider their position. Unfortunately, nothing in the so-called guarantees or in the solemn declaration changes either the text of the treaty or the impact it will have on Ireland or the EU. We fear we will still lose our Commissioner in 2014. I challenge anyone present to state unequivocally and on the record that while the Lisbon treaty proposal to reduce the size of the Commission remains, the possibility of member states losing their rights of a permanent Commissioner is not only a possibility but indeed a probability come 2014.
Our neutrality will still be undermined. Although the so-called legally binding guarantee reiterates the position that only an Irish Government can send Irish troops abroad, it does not address the many concerns Sinn Féin raised during the previous Lisbon treaty referendum with regard to the advances on the common security and common defence agendas.
Workers' rights and public services will still come under attack. The solemn declaration is nothing more than a glorified press release, giving the EU institutions no new powers or instruments to address the growing deficit with regard to workers' rights.
Tax harmonisation will still be made easier, as Sinn Féin argued in 2008. Our concern was never that the Lisbon treaty would introduce tax harmonisation, rather the simplified revision procedure contained in Article 48 of the treaty would allow the Council acting by unanimity to move taxation to qualified majority vote and we, the people, would not have the right to a referendum in this vital matter of State sovereignty.
The Government's claims, and those of their supporters in Fine Gael and Labour, of having addressed the concerns of the electorate are absolutely false. The proposition before the people on 2 October is exactly the same as it was in June 2008. If it is the same treaty, then the people should give the same answer and say "No" to this bad deal.
Fianna Fáil and its supporters in Labour and Fine Gael are also using the economic crisis to scare people into supporting the treaty. We are told that if we vote "No" we will lose investment, jobs and support from our EU counterparts. The truth is very different. The cause of this recession is the failed economic policies of this Government and its counterparts across Europe. Many of these failed right-wing politicians were responsible for negotiating the treaty and many of their failed right-wing policies are contained in the treaty. In much the same way as this recession is the creation of Deputies Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen, so too is the Lisbon treaty. If they got it so wrong on the economy, why should anyone trust them on the Lisbon treaty?
Fianna Fáil and its supporters in Fine Gael and Labour are arguing that supporting the Lisbon treaty referendum is the only route to economic recovery, the only route to job creation and the only way for Ireland to remain fully involved in the EU. Sinn Féin believes these claims to be false. The Lisbon treaty is a right-wing treaty that promotes greater deregulation and undermines the ability of member states to intervene in their economies to stimulate growth and equality. Rather than assisting any economic recovery, ratification and implementation of the Lisbon treaty would make the recession worse.
We are also being told that a second "No" vote would jeopardise inward investment. Did we not we hear that before? We heard exactly the same kind of scaremongering during the first referendum campaign. Unfortunately for Fianna Fáil the facts tell a different story. In July of this year IDA chief executive officer, Barry O'Leary, said: "It should be noted that 2008 saw a 14 per cent increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) on the previous year bringing the total number of FDI investments in 2008 to 130."
Speaking to the Oireachtas sub-committee on Ireland's future in the European Union on 21 October 2008, Paul Rellis, managing director of Microsoft Ireland said: "I have not seen any material impact on jobs, market access or sales in recent months attributable to the rejection of the Lisbon treaty." Of course the biggest threat to job creation, investment and the economy is not a second rejection of the Lisbon treaty but the continuation of this Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government and for that matter its replacement by an equally right-wing Fine Gael-led Government if and when a general election is called. We argue from a left perspective that the root to economic recovery rests not in the Lisbon treaty but in a change of direction at home and in the European Union.
In 2008, Sinn Féin outlined the key reasons for people to oppose the Lisbon treaty and they remain the same. The Lisbon treaty reduces Ireland's power in the European Union; we will lose our permanent Commissioner and our voting strength on the Council will be cut by half while the bigger states double their strength. The Lisbon treaty erodes our neutrality, drawing us further into a NATO-compatible common defence and obliging us to increase military spending. For the first time we will be voting on an EU treaty that states, in Article 28, that there "will" be a common defence.
The Lisbon treaty will further undermine the viability of rural Ireland and family farming, through the strengthened powers for the EU Trade Commissioner contained in Articles 2, 10 and 188C, effectively ending the Irish Government's veto on mixed international trade deals. Crucially, Article 48 removes our automatic right to a referendum on future changes to existing treaties.
Last week, the Taoiseach addressed this committee and during his remarks he argued that the outcome of the referendum would be "interpreted as a signal for our future intentions regarding this country's place in the European Union" and that it would "make a statement about whether we want to continue to be an influential player at the heart of Europe or whether we want to move to the periphery on the basis of our suspicion and mistrust of the EU's direction and intent". He continued to state that a second rejection of the Lisbon treaty would mean that our commitment to Europe would be called into question.
These arguments, used in various forms by Fianna Fáil and its supporters in Fine Gael and the Labour Party, are a cynical attempt to play on the legitimate fears that many people have because of the economic insecurity created by the Government. A rejection of the Lisbon treaty would not indicate a spiritual withdrawal from the EU, as Deputy Brian Lenihan suggested, nor would it declare an intention to move to the periphery. Rather, it would be a demonstration of our commitment to a better European Union and a fairer Ireland.
I place emphasis on the fact that the overwhelming majority of those voters who rejected the Lisbon treaty in 2008, including this voter, want Ireland to play a full and central role in shaping the future of the European Union; make no mistake about it. Our primary purpose in campaigning against this treaty is that we believe the EU can and must do better. A strong "No" vote on 2 October would send a signal to the peoples of Europe that we in Ireland have a better vision for our future and our children's future than that of the failed and discredited political elites who drafted the treaty over the past eight or nine years.
The consequences of voting "No" are that Ireland will remain a full and equal member of the European Union. We cannot be expelled or marginalised. The European Union will carry on as before and inward investment will not be affected. As I indicated, in 2008 we saw a 14% increase in foreign direct investment on the previous year despite the scaremongering claims of the "Yes" side. Crucially what will happen is that a space will open for a real debate on the future of the European Union in the context of today's reality. The Lisbon treaty started life in the declaration of Laeken in 2001 and the first draft of the treaty was concluded by the European Council in 2004. The world has changed dramatically since then. The Lisbon treaty is out of date and out of time. We need a new treaty written by new political forces containing new policies to meet the new and very serious challenges of our time.
