I am going to vote Yes to the Amsterdam Treaty. Granted, no specific date has been decided on for this referendum so such a decision might seem premature. But it isn't.
A lot of my time in government was spent on European matters and as a result I am fortunate enough to have a solid understanding of the Amsterdam Treaty. Most people do not. This is not their fault; it is natural.
For most people, the European Union is a vague concept. It is something Ireland is part of but that seems to have limited impact on day-to-day living. We know we have received a lot of money to build roads but after that we know very little. We are even less well informed about the Amsterdam Treaty.
Maastricht and the Single European Act were treaties with a single core focus so, with some judicious reading and listening, we could get to understand what they were about. Amsterdam has no single focus.
It will tidy up bits of business the Maastricht Treaty left out. It will tackle citizens' rights. It will reform some European institutions like the Parliament and the Commission. But these are all concepts, impressive-sounding goals whose meaning is not immediately apparent. I am writing about this now because it will take people a lot of time to become familiar with the contents of this treaty.
But don't worry. I have no intention of trying to explain the whole treaty - just the bits that convinced me to vote Yes.
At present, there are 18 million people without jobs in the EU. The Amsterdam Treaty will set unemployment as one of the Union's priorities. Up until now each state looked after its employment policy separately. What is planned is that the various members will pool their resources and experience. They will decide together an overall strategy and ways to implement it.
Already three areas have been agreed on: youth unemployment, the long-term unemployed and improving citizens' employability through training and education. Finally, each member-state will create its own plan taking into account what has already been decided. A key element of those plans will be their stated unemployment reduction targets.
Each country will submit its plan and each year the success of those plans will be reviewed. Should some countries not meet their targets, the Union will work with them to help solve their problems.
This approach will still allow each state to create and implement its own policies. Those policies are likely to be more effective, as there will be the opportunity to learn from other countries' achievements or, indeed, mistakes. In addition, there will be an element of peer pressure.
Since targets must be stated, where countries fail to reach those standards both its own citizens and the other nations will know. No government will want to be publicly embarrassed, quite apart from the ammunition that this would supply to opposition spokespeople.
Allowing nations leeway in setting national employment policies makes sense but there is an area in which rules need to be imposed from outside. This is the area of citizens' rights or, in plainer English, human rights.
Underpinning the Amsterdam Treaty is the idea that the European Union is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, fundamental rights and the rule of law.
This idea has, remarkably, not been enshrined in any of the previous treaties. Should any member-state seriously and persistently breach those principles then action can be taken against them. It will also allow any EU citizen to take a case to the European Court of Justice should they believe any EU institution has acted in breach of fundamental human rights.
In practical terms, this measure will probably have its greatest effect in combating discrimination. No discrimination, whether in terms of employment or otherwise, will be allowed if it is based on sex, sexual orientation, race, religion, disability or age.
While progress has been made in Ireland on the first four of those principles, disability and age have continued to be used as excuses to exclude people from taking a full part in life.
If you do not believe it, check the jobs advertised in almost any newspaper. You will find upper and lower age limits set for all sorts of employment opportunities. And while a person with a disability might be the right age for a job they often find that because they use a wheelchair or are blind, they won't be chosen.
As a former minister for justice, the drugs problem has always been a priority for me. As border controls have been relaxed, and on the continent almost entirely done away with, new opportunities for drug traffickers and other smugglers have presented themselves.
Already, national police forces and governments co-operate to try to combat these problems. The Amsterdam Treaty will reinforce those links and help make that co-operation more effective.
It will also focus the various European police forces on three other vital areas - offences against children, trafficking in persons and the illegal arms trade.
I am conscious that what I have written does not do justice to the scope of the Amsterdam Treaty. That would require a number of full pages of this publication and would ultimately bore most readers to death. But the treaty is real and you will have an opportunity to vote on it soon.
It will seriously affect your daily lives more than any of the previous treaties have. The European Union has produced a document it calls the Citizen's Guide, that explains the breadth of what is proposed. It's only 12 pages long and it's free. Give it a try - it could be the most useful 12 pages you have ever read.