Over the last few months we have seen a huge response to our consultation on the referendum. It’s clear the public interest has been captured and that people care about the future of our country and how it is decided.

As we move into the final stage of the consultation, I’ll be taking to the referendum Facebook site at 14:30 on May 9, to answer any final questions you have before you submit your response.

So whether you want to know why I think 16 and 17 year olds should be allowed a vote or you want to discuss ideas to increase turnout in the referendum – log on to  http://www.facebook.com/scotreferendum2014 and ask away!

Of course, I fundamentally believe that we in Scotland are best placed to make decisions about our country and that independence will make Scotland more successful and improve the lives of those who live here. So if you want to find out more about how independence will improve Scotland, I’ll be happy to touch on that as well.

I’ll be able to answer questions for around 45 minutes, so hopefully that will allow me to respond to all the questions. However, if we are over-subscribed on the day I will make sure everyone gets an answer over the next day or so.

And if you can’t make the Q&A or you’ve already made up your mind, remember the most important thing is to have your say by filling out the consultation response at http://consult.scotland.gov.uk/scotreferendum

Michael Russell, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning