TAOISEACH Brian Cowen agreed with French president Nicolas Sarkozy at the recent European Council summit to discuss the drafting of opt-outs to the Lisbon Treaty, specifically in line with the proposal I made earlier this month.

I WISH to make several clarifications as to the work of the European Parliament cited in your report headlined ‘MEPs miss one in five sessions of parliament’ (August 25).

CAL HYLAND (Letters, January 10) appears to imply that the school water charges debacle was part of the result of the “Nice referendum rerun” and that it could have implications for the EU Reform Treaty referendum.