Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

As far as I can see "better" is the primary focus. I do not believe there is anything particularly sinister about this. Every country in Europe, with the exception of Denmark, has agreed to participate. At the moment, we have just agreed to be involved in the framework. No particular project has been undertaken yet. For example, a procurement project has not been undertaken and nobody has yet done anything in this regard. As a sovereign State, Ireland has the right to decide on whether to get involved in any project initiated by the agency, on a case by case basis. All we have done so far is to agree to participate in the framework of the agency, in co-operation with our European partners.

See this speech in context