No canvassing – just vote

THE Referendum Commission has urged people throughout the State to vote in the Fiscal Stability Treaty referendum on May 31.
Commission chairperson, Judge Kevin Feeney, said the factual guide to the Treaty should be received by voters people by Friday, May 18.
“The Referendum Commission is obliged by law to give a neutral and factual explanation of the Treaty and that is what we will do,” said Judge Feeney at the launch of the booklet.
“We will deliver a factual guide to the Treaty to every home in the State; run advertising on television, radio, in newspapers and online; explain important issues as they arise and use social media to encourage people to check to ensure they are registered to vote and to vote.
“The Treaty is relatively short and relatively understandable compared to previous referendum proposals. As well as reading our factual information, voters can help make up their minds by listening to the strong arguments that will be made in favour of and against the proposal through the media during the campaign. National, regional and local media will play a crucial role in explaining the Treaty and giving a platform to supporters and opponents of the Treaty,” he said.
Describing the Fiscal Stability Treaty, Judge Feeney said, “The Treaty is about strengthening the rules designed to make governments keep a balance between their income and their spending.  There are already EU rules about this, which apply to Ireland. The Treaty aims to strengthen these rules and requires countries to put some of them into national law.”
These rules apply in three main areas which Judge Feeney called the three Ds:  debt, the general  government deficit and the structural deficit. Under the Treaty:
– The existing rule that government debt be no more than 60% of GDP is restated
– The existing rule that the general government deficit must be no more that 3% of GDP is restated
– A  new rule that a country’s “structural deficit” be no more than 0.5% of GDP is introduced and this rule  must be put into national law.
There are other provisions including a statement in the recitals (statements about the Treaty’s aims) that any future bailout involving funds from the European Stability Mechanism will be given only to countries which have ratified and implemented this Treaty.
Other parts of the Treaty include EU rules that are already in place in relation to co-ordination of economic policies and information sharing among the governments of the countries that ratify it.  The Treaty also formalises the current informal arrangements for governing the euro area.
Judge Feeney outlined the Commission’s role is to provide a broad explanation of the referendum proposal. It does not argue for a yes or a no vote, rather it gives factual information in order to help voters to decide.
“The guide and the website are being published in Irish as well as English. There will be versions of the guide in Braille, Irish sign language, audio and large print format to ensure those who have difficulty accessing conventional information material can inform themselves. For the first time, the Commission is using Facebook to encourage people to register to vote, Twitter to give information on its campaign and Irish sign language on its information broadcasts on television.”
The Referendum Commission has produced more detailed information for those who wish to know more about the Treaty on its website www.referendum2012.ie.  It also has a dedicated phone line 1890 270 970.