Government publishes Lisbon Treaty Bill

The Government has published the Bill amending the Constitution to adopt the Lisbon Treaty that will be put to the vote in a referendum.

The Twenty-Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2008 will enable the State to ratify the Reform Treaty signed in December last. No date has yet been set for the referendum, but Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has indicated it is likely to be held in the last week of May or the first week of June.

Minister for the Environment John Gormley also today established a Referendum Commission to provide information to the public about the treaty.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said today the Dáil will begin to debate the bill "immediately after" the Dáil returns from its Easter recess. Mr Ahern said the Oireachtas could extend the period of debate if necessary but he expected the referendum to be in late May or early June.

The EU treaty will give the bloc a long-term president, a more powerful foreign policy chief and more democratic decision-making, and more say to European and national parliaments. It replaces the constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

Mr Ahern said he had "great faith in the Irish people" backing a "yes" vote despite the treaty being a "difficult document" to understand for some.

"When they see that virtually all of the political parties in the Republic, all of the trade unions, all of the employers, all of the other social partners are very much in favour of it ... I think they will take their lead from that," he said.

Ireland will be the only member state to hold a referendum to enable it to ratify the treaty. The other member states have either ratified it or are expected to do so through parliamentary procedures.

Labour Party spokesman on European affairs Joe Costello welcomed the publication of the Bill.

"The next step is to announce the date for the holding of the referendum on the Lisbon Reform Treaty. The sooner the date is set the sooner the preparatory work can begin" he said.

Fine Gael European affairs spokeswoman Lucinda Creighton said a "meaningful and truthful" debate must begin on the content of the treaty and that a date must be set.

"It is clear from all polling on the Treaty to date, that the more information that people have, the more likely that they will vote Yes. Let's ensure that a factual debate begins immediately," she said.

Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour are campaigning for a Yes vote on the Lisbon Treaty. The Green Party has not adopted an official position on it after a vote of its members failed to reach the required majority in order to allow it to do so.

While some senior members of the Greens favour a Yes vote, others, such as former MEP Patricia McKenna, are opposing the State's ratification of the treaty.

Sinn Féin is also opposing it. The party's agriculture spokesman Martin Ferris and Northern Ireland agriculture minister Michelle Gildernew are visiting Roscommon and Leitrim today to meet with local community groups and farmers.

Mr Ferris said the party is "actively engaging with rural communities as part of our campaign against the Lisbon Treaty".

Additional reporting: Reuters