Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I welcome this morning's report from the Competition Authority on the price of goods in the Republic. One of its findings is that food prices in the South are 30% higher than those in the North. Last month, Tesco made many cuts to food prices in its stores in Border areas and last week SuperValu made almost €100 million worth of cuts, a move it says will help to reduce food prices by 23%. That is all very welcome. Members of the House have been calling for such action for some time. However, I am concerned about the permanence of some of these cuts. This morning in Dublin Tesco announced further price cuts, using the phrase, "Change for good". I am not sure if that message is getting through to some of its stores in the Border region. The Irish Times carried out a survey yesterday in the Drogheda store, which had many of the price cuts announced last month, and found that prices of some goods have increased again. Tesco admits that prices of 200 different products have risen in the past month. I believe it is important that when people say "Change for good" they mean long-term reductions. We must keep pressure on these retailers to ensure these reductions are indeed long-term ones and not short-term publicity-seeking attempts.

I am very pleased to see the publication of legislation in respect of civil unions. The Civil Partnership Bill has many fine points such as issues relating to inheritance rights, power of attorney and next of kin. I note the Government has stated it will deal with other matters such as tax and social welfare issues in the Finance Bill in December. I accept the Government's commitment to do this and we will keep a very close eye on it to ensure it delivers on that commitment. However, I am disappointed the Bill does not address the issue of children, many of whom are affected in this country. This needs to be addressed and we must have a debate on the matter when the Bill comes before the House.

I express my congratulations to my fellow Senator, Michael McCarthy, on the birth of his child last week and to Senator Lisa McDonald on the recent birth of her child.