A condensed guide to understanding the Lisbon Treaty was today launched by the Government ahead of the upcoming referendum.
The new booklet -
30 Minute Guide to the Lisbon Treaty- is available free of charge to every household nationwide.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said the handbook fulfils the Government's promise to make information on the charter as widely accessible as possible. He said the guide gives readers a good sense of the main elements of the treaty which will reform the European Union.
"It represents a further notable addition to the information available to the public on the Lisbon Treaty," said Mr Martin. "It also explains the package of legal guarantees and assurances secured by Ireland in June, which make the Lisbon Treaty a very different proposition for us this year.
"If we ratify Lisbon, we now get to keep our Commissioner and have legally-binding guarantees on taxation, neutrality and ethical issues such as the right to life."
Last year, Irish voters rejected the treaty by a margin of 53.4 per cent to 46.6 per cent.
Mr Martin said the new guide was designed to let voters make their own informed assessment of the merits of the treaty before the next referendum on Friday, October 2nd.
He maintained it sets out the main contents of the treaty, explains how it was negotiated and how the European Union responded to the concerns of the Irish people with a new package of legal guarantees and assurances.
Mr Martin also said he was confident that the factual and balanced information now available will go a long way to address the information deficit which, according to independent research, evidently existed in the run-up to last year's referendum.
The booklet is available from www.lisbontreaty.ie or by phoning the Department of Foreign Affairs on lo-call number: 1850 211 602.