Mr. Mickey Brady:

Could I just make one point about European Union legislation? Back in the early 1980s when I started in the advice sector, child benefit in the South was less than in the North. People who lived in the North and worked in the South had to claim their child benefit where they worked, as is the case with sick benefit and so forth. Through the law centre we took a case and, by means of European Union legislation, we were able to equalise those benefits. That has changed now because child benefit in the South - fortunately and for good reason - is now higher than in the North. European Union legislation has been effective in improving the standard of living for families and children in the past. That case was specifically related to children.