Ms Evelyn Jones:

If I may, I will comment on the notion of North-South co-operation. I travelled to Belfast on 2 September for a meeting of the public health commission based on a joint report on alcohol policy that was commissioned on a North-South basis. It was at the invitation of the pubs of Ulster. The publicans showed up, as did the off-licences, the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland and its equivalent in the North, and the Department of Health in the North. Nobody showed up from the Department of Health in the South, however - there was not a sausage. This shows a lack of respect for the people who are trying to retail alcohol in a responsible manner. Surely somebody from the Department of Health could have shown up for that meeting. We are finding there is a negative profile of the alcohol industry, but we do not make the rules; we play by them. Pillorying the sector is not fair. Regulating the drinks industry is in the remit of the State, and it should do so. We welcome regulation and have no fear of it.

The second question was about rates. Mr. McCabe will say some words on that issue.