Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Sir William believes that there would be a 60% or 70% vote by the British people to exit Europe. He might answer my next proposition. It is the United Kingdom, comprising three and a bit parts, the bit being Northern Ireland, with England, Scotland and Wales. We know the political divisions that exist and that Scotland would be pro Europe. Would it not be ironic if the flag bearer of the campaign, UKIP, which terrorised the Conservative Party, succeeded in breaking up the UK's Union, albeit inadvertently and without ill intent?

If the Conservative Party gets an overall majority, there will be a proposition to hold a referendum. What would the party put to the people? Which treaty elements would it want to renegotiate? Is it the party's intention to put to the people a simple question: "Yes", membership of Europe, or "No", leave Europe? Given the fact that even delving into the issue of what elements of the treaties the UK wanted to keep would take years of negotiation, what question would the Conservative Party put to the British people? Would it be more complicated than "Yes" or "No"?