Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the witnesses and apologise for my late arrival, which meant I missed Ms Cahill's contribution. Mr. O'Brien made reference to the percentage of people who believe the EU is good for us. If I have heard the question once, I have heard it a thousand times: who is running the country, ourselves or Europe? As a Government Deputy I hear that a lot, and at times no amount of explaining can convince people. In many people's eyes, the EEC was originally about money transfers, structural funds, CAP payments and so forth. Now too many people wrongly see the EU as being about enforced austerity and regulations. I come across that viewpoint a lot in my constituency, which is a rural one. The water directive, for example, was issued in 1975 but was only enacted here in 2012. There are many regulations in place that have not been implemented yet and when matters come to a head, people feel the regulations are unfair.

Mr. O'Brien made some very sobering comments about the eurozone crisis coming back to haunt us, and I ask for the views of Mr. Whelan and Ms Cahill on that point. Mr. O'Brien also made reference to the UK's membership of the EU and spoke about small businesses in Britain complaining about the issue of red tape. Have surveys been conducted in this regard? Businesses will always cite red tape as an issue. Is the issue red tape at a European level or is it British red tape? Has the issue been delved into deeply? People will often blame the EU without being able to specify the exact problem. Mr. O'Brien also mentioned that the City of London would be, at best, ambiguous regarding any future proposals on EU membership. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, both commented on the possibility of Britains challenging the recent EU agreement to slash bankers' bonuses. Mr. Johnson called it a "deluded" measure and Mr. Cameron called for flexible arrangements because the deal as it stood could be a "hammer blow" to the City of London. There is a general perception in Europe that we need to do something about bankers' bonuses, but the City of London is also hugely important. How will that play out in terms of a referendum?