Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)

There are many similarities between this jurisdiction and Northern Ireland. The funding for Northern Ireland comes from the Westminster Parliament in an annual envelope and for the past 12 months, our funding has come from a troika in an annual envelope. We are no longer the authors of our own destiny, no more than the representatives of the Northern Ireland Executive are a sovereign government. I know that people find it unpalatable to close 52 schools and reduce public sector pay in the North of Ireland. However, when one is in government for life, ad infinitem, and one cannot be voted out of it, I suppose it makes it a bit more palatable, by virtue of the fact that the D'Hondt system prevents any opposition in the North. This may be why we are not hearing the type of argument we hear down here where there is no opposition to what is being done in the name of saving a few pounds north of the Border.

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