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

Often the value of detailed scrutiny of issues like this is that whenever everything gets teased out, we get to a point where we have a fundamental difference of opinion and we disagree. That is when we put it to a vote. My view is the best strategic position for Ireland to take is to be early adopters of international agreements to which we have signed up and that we believe to be in our interests. The "wait and see" argument made by the Deputy is one anyone could make about any international agreement - "let's be the last person to sign up". That is not my philosophy and I do not think it should be our national policy or philosophy. I think we should be a small country that is out there and is part of Europe and the world and that when we sign an agreement or convention, we should be the ones to sign up to and ratify it quickly. That is in our interests. I appreciate that the Deputy and I have fundamentally different views on that.