The availability of the text of Treaty of Nice was a matter of dispute at the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs yesterday. Green MEP Ms Patricia McKenna charged that people without computers could not get the text of the treaty or important ancillary material.
The chairman, Mr Bernard Durkan TD (Fine Gael), said it was available in hard copy from the Department of Foreign Affairs - "and I expect Members of the European Parliament to know that".
Ms McKenna responded that "Joe Bloggs down the country" could not obtain it at his local public library. Mr Durkan said her contribution was "grossly misleading".
Senator Brendan Ryan (Labour) objected to the chairman's interruptions while Ms McKenna was speaking: "This is a free forum". Mr Durkan said it was the job of the chair to correct factually incorrect statements.
The committee was hearing submissions from both sides on the treaty. A referendum on the treaty, to reform EU decisionmaking before new members join, is expected on June 7th.
Mr Alan Gillis of the European Movement Ireland said the EU's Rapid Reaction Force was "not proposed or created by the Treaty of Nice". The treaty was "a further step in the process of ensuring that the opportunities provided to members of the European Union, which have had a major benefit on Ireland and its citizens, can now be further extended to the applicant states applying for membership".
Mr Fearghus Mac Aogain, for the Peace and Neutrality Alliance, said the Irish people should "reject the militarisation of the European Union" by voting against the treaty.
He said a No vote would mean renegotiation and a protocol to exclude "involvement with or payment for the European Rapid Reaction Force".