Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I should resist the temptation to provoke my colleagues. There is an old legal phrase, res ipsa loquitur, which means "the thing speaks for itself". That is the perception of the Secretary General of NATO. It is not the perception of the European Union, nor is it the objective or purpose for which the battlegroups were formed. I suppose the Secretary General of NATO can have his personal view but that is not the foundation, base, purpose or objective of the groups, nor is it our objective.