6th October 2002

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Brennan claims don't stand up to scrutiny

Sinn Fein TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh today described Seamus Brennan's claims that there would be widespread job losses if we reject Nice for a second time as `scare mongering and without foundation'.  He challenged the Minister to produce evidence to back up his claims or to withdraw them. Deputy Ó Snodaigh said:

``Over the last few months we have seen many attempts to scare the people of Ireland into supporting the Nice Treaty claiming that a No vote would have catastrophic consequences for the Irish people and the economy, involving a flight of capital, job losses and isolation form the decision making process in the EU. And today Seamus Brennan added has voice to the list of scaremongers.

``All of this has been done without production of even one iota of evidence.  Seamus Brennan also seems to ignore the fact that we are currently full participants in all of the economic policies of the EU and this will continue if the people vote No to the Nice Treaty a second time.

``We do know that the Nice Treaty will have very real consequences on our sovereignty. We are already losing control of basic things like how much money should be invested in health, education, telecommunications etc. We are losing control of the right to set tax rates, borrow money and pay wage increases. These are all crucial aspects of managing our economy.

``With less than two weeks to go, instead of engaging in scare mongering, the government should be engaging in a real debate on the Nice Treaty.''

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