Voting the Government parties back into power in the last election disposes of the "silly argument" that there is no democratic right to revisit the Nice Treaty, the Minister for Justice Mr McDowell said today.
Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats had commitments in their manifestos which committed them to holding another referendum, and the current Government was chosen based on that mandate, he said.
Speaking at the MacGill Summer School in Co Donegal, Mr McDowell said he had "no doubt that a second rejection of the Nice Treaty could have devastating effects on our prosperity and on our future as a location for enterprise and investment".
He rubbished suggestions by the No to Nice lobby that ratification of the Treaty would lead to an "invasion of immigrants from candidate states".
He said citizens of candidate countries can already apply to work here and that 7,500 of the 20,000 work permits issued last year went to such applicants.
Mr McDowell said asylum and immigration are key issues facing the European Union. The Irish Government is committed to implementing new Immigration and Residence legislation including the feedback from a series of public consultations, he added.
The Garda National Immigration Bureau has been strengthened to deal with the "scourge of people smuggling and trafficking", Mr McDowell said.
Dealing with this problem on an EU basis and developing a co-ordinated policy on migration and asylum would use the 1999 Tampere Council as a basis, the Minister said.
This involves agreeing the definition of a refugee and the reception of asylum seekers.
