Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

Senator Doherty was being hard on the Tánaiste, Deputy Coughlan, when he referred to her comment about not owning a shop. People have been going to Newry since the Tánaiste said that we should shop around. Perhaps that is why she is afraid to say anything at present.

Senators on this side of the House are in favour of this amendment because, as Senator Quinn said, the decision to increase VAT sends out the wrong signals. Consumers are prepared to shop around. In recent times, many of them have decided to shop in Northern Ireland, unfortunately. Delays in making changes to substantial charges such as expensive rates, waste costs and company taxes have allowed our retail sector to become uncompetitive in some respects. When the public finances hit rock bottom, the Government tried to extract a little more from the people by increasing the rate of VAT. The signal we are sending out as we try to run our economy is completely wrong. There is almost a sense of panic among people who feel they have to go to Northern Ireland. We have to acknowledge that there is a significant difference between the price of certain consumer goods in Northern Ireland and in this jurisdiction.

Regarding making bland statements about being patriotic, Irish people do not see much difference between buying from a British retailer in the Republic or Northern Ireland. It is also insulting to people in Northern Ireland that the so-called "republican party" would treat people north of the Border as citizens of another country. We spent years trying to get rid of that sort of mentality. We would be far better served by a review of how VAT is applied to many goods and services to make us competitive again.