Fiona O'Malley (Progressive Democrats)

Listening to Senator Quinn, as a cross-Border product myself, with a mother from Omagh and a father from Limerick, I agree that as a united Ireland we should not recognise trading on one side or other of the Border as being unpatriotic. I recognise the challenges it brings to people trying to conduct business in the Border area where price sensitivity will make commercial transactions especially difficult.

I refer to the motion and the question of VAT, which is slightly misleading. It is an easy thing to hit the Government with at the moment because the UK is reducing VAT rates. The motion refers to food sold here but food is not subject to VAT in Ireland or the UK. The issue of VAT is slightly misleading in this way. It is an easy headline to show an example of how it is more difficult to conduct business because costs are higher in the South with the higher VAT rate. This goes to the core of trying to keep taxes low and costs as low as possible. That is where we can entice business to our country. I heard someone on the radio this morning refer to the one positive aspect of the current economic situation, that prices are coming down. The price of oil has come down and there will not be the increase in electricity costs we had anticipated. The high cost of electricity is a major problem for businesses in Ireland. It worries me greatly because it is a major cost for big industry. We must try to contain it to keep our costs low. It shows that competitive forces work. Nowhere has that shown itself more than in aviation and buses. Where there is competition on bus routes, there are better services and prices, whether intercity or to and from the airport. This drives prices down and we have a much better service. This is what we must examine.

Everyone who gets a Sunday newspaper knows that the newspaper is full of advertisements for big supermarkets trying to attract our business. We can now see what they have been doing for a while. They are killed trying to entice us in, bringing costs down and comparing costs.

A criticism I have of the motion is the reference to the shoppers task force. I am sorry if it was explained how this would be funded. What would worry me about a shoppers task force is whether it would add to costs. How will it be funded if this is to be established? We have the National Consumer Agency and it is better to have an independent body such as that.

We are consumers and we go where there is value. If we believe we are being ripped off or are not getting a good service, we will do our business elsewhere. That is the best safeguard for anyone in business.

Senator Quinn referred to price and value. Price is not everything. Oscar Wilde said that a cynic is someone who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing. We must keep this in mind. In my local area, Dalkey, I do business in the butcher shop and the greengrocer. I prefer to do business with these small shops because of the old adage about keeping your money in the town. This refers to the sense of community solidarity and looking after the people who look after you. We need to have smaller businesses in our communities. How will they survive if we do not support them? In doing so, one often gets a much better service from these people because there is a bit of banter with them and they know who you are. In a lovely delicatessen in Dalkey, I saw that one woman knew the other woman and said that she would drop something in on the way home at night. That service is so charming. A supermarket cannot operate in that way but it is so much more pleasant to do business in that environment.

It is not necessarily more expensive. With vegetables, one finds that they are competitively priced. One notices that the prices of vegetables in bigger supermarkets are much higher. They make savings in other areas and people must be conscious of the total shopping basket. Regarding people who are travelling across the Border and not supporting businesses in their towns and communities, if businesses close down because they are not getting services, it is these people's neighbours, friends and colleagues who will lose jobs. I am a great believer in keeping the business within the local community as much as possible. Towns have thrived as a result of this and this is where we must keep an eye on matters.

People will get the best value going in that sense. I read an article in the newspaper last week about someone bartering, which we have lost habit of when doing business. I do not know if Senators are aware of the responses. Some shops were horrified that one could negotiate the price but it is a great way to do business. The customer is king at the moment and people must remember that. A business will survive if people give a good service. That is where we must focus.

A shoppers task force is not the answer. A higher awareness of the National Consumer Agency is what we must think of.