Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses to our meeting and I am delighted they decided to come before an Oireachtas joint committee. It is very encouraging. The witnesses' position is interesting and there will certainly be no misunderstanding of Professor Faull's knowledge of Britain and its role in the European Union. That is helpful, to say the least, as he knows the nuances and background of what has arisen in the context of the British idea of having a referendum. It will be a once-off and it will not happen too often.

The points made by Prime Minister Cameron are not all that unreasonable. They are manageable within the European Union. We have faced major crises in the past with respect to different issues and treaties. With the connections with colleagues and the European Council, there will be a positive outcome, which is very important.

Will the witness remind the negotiators of the effect if Britain withdraws? For example, it could affect US-European Union negotiations on treaties and exports from the United Kingdom to the rest of Europe. There would also be implications for the car industry and financial services in London, as well as the strength of sterling compared with the euro. There are many issues that are not necessarily evident on the negotiating side from Mr. Cameron and I hope they will be reminded of the position. Of course, we would be most directly affected and our position would have to be fully taken into account as working and long-standing members of the European Union.

I have a certain sympathy for Mr. Cameron on the points he made regarding how European legislation is transposed into the laws of member states. Far too many statutory instruments are implemented here without proper debate in the Dáil or Seanad.