Professor Frank Barry:

In some of Deputy Barry's remarks he seems to conflate the EU with the eurozone. I am very supportive of the advantages Ireland has derived from being part of the EU, which has been spectacularly crucial to our prosperity. However, the eurozone is a different matter. It is a component of the EU. The benefits to which Deputy Barry referred have derived from our membership of the EU. There is no element of euroscepticism in what I am saying, given that I have been referring specifically to the eurozone. However, Deputy Barry is correct to make the point that there have been benefits to our adoption of the euro as well as costs, for example, the transaction cost benefits. It is wonderful to fly abroad and use one's own currency. Against that, we must weigh the costs, which we are pointing to. In Deputy Barry's comments he appears to downplay one of the costs, namely, the political tensions raised, particularly during recent months, by the negotiations essentially between the Germans and the Greeks, although other countries have been involved.

Although I do not read the British newspapers very frequently, I have been devouring them during recent weeks to see how it is playing out there. The British newspapers from right to left have all been supportive of the Greeks and hostile to the German position, which is of interest because it may have an impact on the outcome of the forthcoming referendum in Britain. If Britain withdraws from the EU, it would be very detrimental to us. If the eurozone collapses and Greece is forced out of it, it may also force Greece out of the EU. Mr. McCarthy has spoken about the break-up of previous currency unions that have had a detrimental impact on trade. Countries exporting to Greece will not be happy to take these new IOUs or whatever new currency is developed there. When Argentina defaulted, Argentine ships were seized around the world.

The great benefit to Ireland of being in the EU, aside from the agriculture sector which I will not talk about, has been that it has allowed us to act as a magnet for foreign direct investment in a way that would not have been possible otherwise. If trade relations in Europe break down as an outcome of the messy disentangling of the eurozone, it would be catastrophic for us. I am not a eurosceptic in that regard. It is beneficial to keep those issues separate from each other.