Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming to the meeting and for their very interesting and thought-provoking contributions. Some of my comments are similar to those already made. Deputy Byrne and Senator Reilly spoke about the election system and democratic accountability, saying that the various countries have diverse electoral systems and historical experiences of democracy.

Do the witnesses believe this makes improving EU accountability more difficult? We have what is regarded as one of the fairest and most accountable electoral systems with PR-STV.

At present we are in an EU-IMF programme with targets to which we must adhere and issues regarding loss of sovereignty. Will more European scrutiny of budgets, more surveillance and the natural tendency of politicians to blame somebody else - the present Government excluded, of course - increase the likelihood of anti-EU feeling across the country, which would have implications for referendums? People might be inclined to believe that Europe is putting the screws on us and constraining us in our budgets, and therefore they will turn against the EU. It is a rather simplistic view, but unfortunately one that is quite commonly held.

In general the UK has no problem with the Single Market but has problems with a number of other clauses and treaties as part of the European Union. Professor Laffan spoke earlier about this country doing what it can to help ensure the UK remains within the EU. I presume she is talking about opt-outs from various treaties, etc. I ask her to expand on the particular ones she believes would help solve that problem. According to the opinion polls a referendum on independence to be held in Scotland will be defeated. However, if Scotland were to become independent, would it increase the chance that the UK would vote to leave the EU - the Scots presumably being more pro-EU? Do the witnesses believe the British Conservative Party might start to regret its failure to support the alternative vote proposals of Liberal Democrats? With the UKIP now eating into the Conservative Party's vote, it would be a natural transferee for the alternative vote.