On the Adjournment: A recess opportunity for backbenchers to air their views. This week: Martin Ferris of Sinn Féin considers the erosion of the Dáil's sovereignty in the face of Brussels diktats.
John Locke, who is considered to be one of the founding fathers of constitutional democracy, held that the legislature "cannot transfer the power of making laws to any other hands, for it being but a delegated power from the people, they who have it cannot pass it over to others".
Most of us would agree with that sentiment and believe that this is the way in which democracy works in this State. But is it? Does the Oireachtas make the laws which govern most of our lives, or has it in fact become less important as more and more of the key legislation that covers all aspects of life originates at EU level.
As the Sinn Féin spokesperson on Agriculture I have become acutely aware of this over the past two years. In that time, there has been almost no domestic legislation emanating from the Department and yet this has been a period of radical change with the most significant reform to date of the Common Agricultural Policy.
While I and my party participated in the debate on the reform, and gave a broad welcome to the proposals on decoupling, it is becoming ever more clear that the detail of the reform package was passed with little input from Irish officials with the consequence that as farmers receive notification of their entitlements under the Single Farm Payment, significant sections are discovering that they may be at a severe loss.
The acquiescence of successive Governments since 1973 has contributed to a situation in which this State is operating at a considerable disadvantage as a relatively minor player in a game in which, whatever the voting procedures and informal alliances, favours the large states, and corporate economic interests.
The lack of power over legislation that comes from Europe was once again brought into focus earlier this year with the lifting of the EU embargo on a number of genetically modified food products. Ireland was among a minority of states which voted to lift the embargo.
Ireland voted in support of GM despite the fact that the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, with an inbuilt Government majority, passed a motion against the proposal. It would be interesting, therefore, to discover why Fianna Fáil has done a complete U-turn on GM since 1997 without any debate or democratic decision here. But even if there had been, the fact of the matter is that no elected body in this State has the power to prevent the EU forcing us to accept GM.
This is surely an issue of critical importance for Ireland as a country that relies so much upon its image as the producer of high quality food. What possible benefit can GM be in promoting that? Especially if, as is inevitable, the giant corporations responsible for manufacturing GM produce and seeds begin to increase the pressure not only to allow finished products to be sold, but also the growing of GM crops throughout the EU.
If that goes ahead it will be a disaster for Irish agriculture and the food industry here. In a world where consumers remain deeply suspicious of GM, the future lies in expanding the growth and export of high quality conventional and organic food - not in surrendering to the likes of the Monsantos.
But even if this State was to decide against allowing GM crops would it be allowed to? Article 19 of EU Directive 2001/18 does seem to provide scope for specific geographical areas to remain GM-free, but the former Agriculture Commissioner, Franz Fischler, also made it clear that no individual state could declare itself GM-free, and regional governments which have done so have already found themselves subject to legal challenge in the European Court of Justice.
The issue in all of this is national sovereignty over an area of vital interest. GM or indeed agriculture is not only area in which it applies. I could also cite numerous examples where Irish fishing communities have been severely damaged by edicts issued at EU level. Often the first realisation of the impact of a new directive comes when boats are about to leave port, or when they come in to land a catch. They are confronted by Department of Marine officials who in this instance are acting not on foot of measures decided by the Oireachtas, which can be subject to debate and lobbying by stakeholders, but almost like the messengers from Rome who carried the latest imperial decrees to the furthest outposts.
That is why Sinn Féin will be opposing the ratification of the draft EU constitution when it is put to referendum: because it represents a further shift in the balance of power away from national parliaments towards a centralised European state. We make no apologies for asserting that most of the key decisions affecting the lives of Irish people ought to be made here and not in Brussels.
We have been accused of having been consistently opposed to all European treaties as though we have done so in a knee-jerk fashion. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our policy of critical engagement directs that we evaluate each EU development on its own merits. However, we have not shifted from our position on national sovereignty and in that we are not alone.
In the first referendum on Nice, 54 per cent voted against. Despite this the Government put exactly the same proposition without addressing any of the concerns which people obviously had. There has also been a consistently strong vote in support of Irish sovereignty and neutrality in every Constitutional referendum since the mid 1980s and a recent poll showed that while a majority of citizens support the European project, a large majority are opposed to the further surrender of sovereignty.
As long as Irish governments fail to safeguard Irish sovereignty and vital interests Sinn Féin will maintain our position of opposition to the creation of a European super-state. In that we are confident that we are voicing the concerns not only of a large number of people in this country but also of people in all of the EU states, as indeed was evidenced by the strong showing of parties which share those views in the European Parliament elections.
Martin Ferris is Sinn Féin TD for Kerry North.