Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)

I acknowledge the decision by the Minister for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey, and his colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, to ensure that the Valentia and Malin Head marine rescue co-ordination centres will remain and the provision of funding of €2.5 million to upgrade the radio systems in both stations together with the upgrade work to be done in Dublin. I very much welcome that and I know my colleague, Senator Keaveney, who comes from Inishowen, also welcomes it. The decision was made following representations by the communities in Kerry and Donegal. The Minister and the Minister of State listened to the people and we should applaud them for doing so and for reversing a decision which was ultimately moved forward by officials in the Department.

Later today we will debate consumer spending. There are 22 days to Christmas and many shoppers from the Republic are travelling North of the Border. I want to refer to a specific issue that was brought to my attention over the weekend by a number of consumers. I will give the example to the House as an indication of what is occurring at present with regard to the double charging policies of multiples based in the UK. A young lady from my constituency went to the North seeking a particular garment. It was priced at £25, and the equivalent in euro. She was told the garment was not available in the store in the North but that if she went to the store in the Republic, located in Donegal, the garment was available there. She did so and the price tag on the garment was also £25, and the equivalent in euro, just as it was in Derry city. However, when she went to pay for it she was informed that if she wanted to pay in sterling she would have to pay the sterling difference and, therefore, she was charged £33. That is a disgrace.

If supermarkets and chain stores are getting away with this in our jurisdiction, shame on them. We must target those people and take them on. This occurs in the Border counties and it is causing major difficulties to our economy because people are choosing to spend their money in the North. We must debate this issue and I hope it is raised this evening and on Friday. Given that there are only 22 days to Christmas, we must consider what we can do this week to allow consumers to spend their money in the Republic rather than in the North.