Military and economic sovereignty are not threatened by referendum

I HAVE followed the lively debate on the EU Reform Treaty in your letters page. As Government spokesperson on European affairs in the Seanad and a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs, I take a particular interest in the debate.

While I strongly support the adoption of the Lisbon treaty, my overriding concern is that we have an informed and reasoned debate on the matter.

With this in mind I have frequently addressed two flawed common arguments against the treaty — that it will diminish our traditional neutrality and that it will open our tax affairs to European interference. These are certainly two important issues – military neutrality is a defining feature of our country and our low rate of corporation tax is a key factor in our economic success of recent years.