Mr. Proinsias De Rossa:

One issue I did not touch on was the UK-Scotland situation. I am not a legal expert on this but my belief is that Scotland cannot remain a member of the European Union if it secedes from the UK. The UK is a member. If Scotland leaves the UK, then it also leaves the EU and it has to reapply. It would have very little difficulty in becoming a member but it would then have to decide whether it wanted to join the euro. One of the big issues in the current debate is that the nationalists in Scotland want to remain part of sterling. I am not involved in the referendum campaign but based on our experience in Ireland, populations at large generally do not like taking a leap in the dark in referendums. I may be wrong but I do not see the referendum being carried. One of the things the European Union has to acknowledge, and given what Deputy Durkan has said, is its relatively tiny size compared to the rest of the world, a declining population, an ageing population and a resistance to migration, all of which lead to a decline, which is an issue we have to address.