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

This is not a new issue. If somebody arrived in the Visitors Gallery today or were tuning in to these policy matter discussions for the first time, he or she would think PESCO had just been dreamt up in the past couple of months. This is in the Lisbon treaty. The treaty was ratified by the Irish people in 2009. There has been ample opportunity for a debate since then. There has been plenty of debate about this matter since the Lisbon treaty was ratified in 2009. There is a time for debate and there is a time for a decision. I do not believe further debate would change anybody's mind, nor would it allay fears based on any conspiracy theories.

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