Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To clarify, I did not say or advocate that the European Union enlarged too soon. I said I supported the view that the European Union should have enlarged quickly, but the issue is what happened next. The foot was taken off the accelerator in embedding the process after the countries in question were brought into the European Union. Much of the work that was done in bringing them in was not followed through and we allowed them to hang there. Twenty years later we saw the implications.