Bishop Noël Treanor
This afternoon the Joint Committee on European Affairs met in the Oireachtas to discuss the Lisbon Treaty. Bishop Noel Treanor, Bishop of Down and Connor and formerly Secretary General of the Commission of Bishops’ Conferences of the member countries of the European Union, was invited to present the Church’s position on the referendum. Bishop Treanor stated that
unequivocally that a Catholic can, without reserve and in good conscience, vote ‘Yes’ for the Lisbon Treaty. There are no grounds to justify a ‘No’ vote in the Lisbon Treaty on the basis of specifically religious or ethical concerns
Comhlámh held a debate last week on an aspect of the EU and the Lisbon Treaty that is often overlooked, that of overseas development aid. Tom Arnold, Director of Concern and a Patron of Ireland for Europe, spoke in favour of the motion, “Is Lisbon 2 a Good Treaty for Development”, with Andy Storey, AFRI, against.
Development aid has been a feature of the European project since the Lomé Convention in 1975, negotiated with Dr Garret FitzGerald as Foreign Minister during the Irish Presidency. It was renogiated in 1981, again during the Irish presidency, with Michael O’Kennedy as Foreign Minister.
The Lisbon Treaty adds new language committing the European Union to aiding developing countries.
A guest blog here from Prof. Paul Walsh, Professor of International Development Studies at University College, Dublin
To me the European project has always been about creating a peaceful environment where people’s economic, political and social freedoms are promoted and protected. Such freedoms are at the core of Nobel Prize-winner Prof. Amartya Sen’s Human Development Theory.
If we want to put people first, it is correct to consider the impact of the Lisbon Treaty on such freedoms. One important lesson of Human Development Theory is that such freedoms tend to come as a package. Countries with high levels of GDP per capita tend to have very good education and health systems, good social protection, gender empowerment and good political systems, amongst other things. It is hard to have high levels of economic growth, well dispersed across households, without social and political freedoms.
Much of the focus on Ireland in Europe up to 2007 was around Ireland’s economic success in terms of GDP per capita. Many see US multinationals using Ireland as a low tax location to export to a European Market as the core ingredient of our transition from rags to riches in Europe. The social impact of Europe on our core capabilities of our businesses and people are overlooked. The most important labour market reform in the history of the state was to empower women to get back into the labour force. European law got rid of the marriage bar in the late 1970s, equalized unemployment benefit entitlements, levels and duration, and finally demanded equal pay for men and women. Mary Robinson fought for Irish women’s labour markets rights in European courts well into the 1980s. The impact of women flowing into third level education and into highly skilled employment should not be underestimated. When you ask multinationals why they come to Ireland they focus on the presence of a highly educated young, gender balanced, workforce that work directly for them or supports them via small businesses. Corporation tax is one of many aspects of the investment environment.
