Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

There is too much of that sort of talk. The situation arises specifically from an undertaking given at the time by the states to each other. I was simply making the point when the Deputy tried to make a comparison with another situation that there is another situation which I could say goes in the opposite direction. It is not relevant. What is relevant to the ratification process is the collective undertaking given by the states at the time of the signing of this treaty. All states are entitled to proceed along those lines. If we were not proceeding with our national process, the Deputy would ask me why we were not doing so.

See this speech in context