Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

I do not know if I am the first speaker to be more than directly affected by this issue. I will start where Senator Bradford finished. There was a time when consumers were not aware of pricing and paid whatever happened to be the price at the till or went to whichever petrol station was the handiest and did not look at the price. I have spent many years being a little annoyed at some of the petrol stations which were exploiting the customer. I remember when petrol stations in Muff, Bridgend, Burnfoot and other places in Donegal were closed down. I remember the trauma for the families involved. I remember seeing the dilapidated buildings when the petrol was cheaper on the other side of the Border.

There are very few Members of this House who live in a Border mentality, north of the North, as it were. When I say I am geographically North and politically South, people do not understand. When I go abroad people do not understand that there is a place north of the North. In Donegal and Inishowen in particular we have always had to deal with the pluses and minuses, the swings and roundabouts of that situation. The 0.5% increase in the Irish VAT rate might not have been a problem had it not linked in to the 2% decrease in the UK VAT rate and the change in the exchange rates. The exchange rates have been very significant in the recent months.

We have watched the petrol going from being a good price on our side and everyone buying it to everyone going North and those north of the Border buying it locally again. The sale of petrol provides significant employment but this still relates to the VAT take and that could change. While acknowledging the bigger picture, I still say to those providing services not to take profit unduly just because there is someone on the other side of the Border who will come and buy because it is a lot cheaper here. The locals are being penalised as well as everyone else. On the other side of the equation, people have come from the North to County Donegal for weddings and we did not say "No" to them. I question what is the problem with the price of food. If County Donegal is attractive for wedding receptions — which is all about food — how are we so unattractive for shopping for food? It does not add up.

As Senator Carty said earlier, we need to be careful in this debate. We can point to real issues and difficulties. I can point to my own constituency and to constituents who are in serious trouble with regard to employment. We also need to be careful in talking about this issue not to concentrate solely on the negative aspects. In my area there is more competition between the shops in Carndonagh and Buncrana and good bargains can be found. Senator Carty was correct when he said that people are discerning. They are buying one item in one shop and another item in another shop because they know what is cheaper in what shop.

We are asking for a level playing field. We are living in a Borderless area. We are surrounded by either the ocean or the rest of the North. Our mentality is fluid. The closest hospital to my area is in Derry. It is 18 miles from my house to Derry but it is 37 miles to Letterkenny. Crossing the Border is a daily occurrence for us. The earlier discussion focused on the busloads going from Cork or Galway but these are one-off occasions and a form of social occasion which cannot be stopped. It is a daily occurrence for any of us living in the Border region and it is the problem of the daily occurrence that makes places such as Donegal different. We must focus on supporting existing industries and businesses so that they can be as competitive as possible. We also need to send out the good message that there are bargains to be had. If we keep talking things down, we are only talking other people into going North and exploring what is there.

I will give examples which may be trite. I was going back through Belfast to Donegal last weekend. In the Spar shop here — I should not be advertising particular shops — I bought two bars of chocolate for €1. When I reached Belfast I saw the bargain of two bars of chocolate for £1. The two bars of chocolate for €1 was a much better deal. People complained about the airport tax being imposed on regional airports but we always had the tax because Derry Airport always imposed the UK tax on the flight from Derry to Dublin. I refer to the issue of the all-Ireland roaming charges for mobile phones. My phone subscription package will allow a certain number of minutes but these will not include the roaming minutes. If I leave my phone on the TV and leave it on in automatic signal finder mode, it will find the signal from the North. It has cost me many hundreds of punts.

I have too many thoughts but I want to bring one to the notice of the Minister of State. Last week I called for an all-Ireland VAT level on alcohol. Everyone is travelling North to buy alcohol and we know that low prices and easy access leads to more consumption. It is as much an issue for us in the Republic as it is for the Six Counties. The regional task force has been dealing with it as a north-west issue and not as an issue in the North or South. I was on a radio programme with Jeffrey Donaldson last Thursday and he agreed it was an issue that needed to be examined. The interviewer was very excited that I might be telling the UK Government what to do with regard to its tax policy. We led the way on the smoking ban and on the plastic bags regulations. I am trying to be patriotic and republican by asking for a Thirty-two County approach to VAT on alcohol. If VAT rates were equal, we might have a more level playing field and people might not be making the mad dash for the €13 cheaper bottle of whiskey and they might buy other things locally as well.

The exchange rate is very annoying. When goods were £50 in the North they were automatically €75 here. When the prices were the wrong way round, there was no problem and we were expected to pay the €75. Now, according to Senator Ó Domhnaill and others, because that exchange rate has changed the other way and people are asked to pay the difference, it shows that people are exploiting the exchange rate. I said today that consumers should not be fooled and that they should vote with their feet regarding consumer goods and vote with their wheels regarding prices. We are very aware of it. I know that Forfás is also inquiring into the reason there is a 31% price differential between the same goods on either side of the Border. We just want a level playing field because we believe we can be as competitive as anywhere else.

There is a massive potential for the consumers here to play a part. There is no doubt that some issues are problematic. It may be better to bring issues to the attention of people who can address them rather than through this suggested forum. For example, if the Enterprise train journey between Dublin and Belfast is delayed by over half an hour, passengers receive a voucher. For a time the voucher would not be accepted in Belfast because it was in euro, even though Northern Ireland Railways provided it. As it happened to me on one occasion, I brought it to the attention of the company when it attended the Good Friday Agreement committee and it was subsequently resolved. Much of this is about bringing matters to the attention of those who can address them. Consumers should bring prices to the attention of their shops and fight their corner. I accept several difficulties are created by the fact that there are two jurisdictions on the island. The Minister of State is well aware that what needs to be done, particularly in the Border areas, is to protect jobs.