Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to clarify what I said earlier in case I was misunderstood or I misspoke. I would not question the right of any citizen to take a case to court, whether a Deputy, a Senator or otherwise. People and companies are free to go to court and free to seek vindication of their legal rights.

However, I believe there is a decency issue. When people take cases that are unnecessary or unsuccessful, they should not burden the taxpayer or the Irish citizen with the full cost of them. They should be willing to accept some of the costs themselves out of a point of decency, just as a person must when he or she makes a planning objection or when someone applies for a tender or contract and does not get it. The tenderer has to bear the cost of a failed attempt. There is a decency issue for people taking some of these cases. They should at least bear some of the costs if they are unsuccessful rather than impose the costs on Irish citizens and taxpayers. There are better ways to spend taxpayers' money in my view.

There are 27 member states in the European Union. Of those, 15 have ratified and 12 have not. To say "rejected" is incorrect. They have not rejected it. Something not being ratified is not the same thing as rejecting it. Two of the 12-----