David Norris (Independent)

Consequently, it is all fine for me. While I can volunteer, what about other people who have other entanglements? It is not simply a straight mathematical figure because one must take into account the possibility of other variables. Nevertheless, people like myself would be prepared to consider a sharper haircut.

When I consider the situation pertaining to Newry, I am unapologetic in finding this phenomenon to be utterly repellent. As far as I am concerned, the people who travel up on that roadway to load up their SUVs with €500 worth of wine, beer and spirits deserve everything that is coming down the line to them. Were it in my remit, I would establish a toll road system going to the north of Ireland. I would charge them €1,000 for going up and €750 for coming down. If they did not have the cash on them, I would possess the car and sell it in Belfast. While I will not invoke patriotism because Johnson described it as the last refuge of a scoundrel, there is a lamentable lack of ordinary, decent, human solidarity. People who allow themselves to be lured across the Border to squander their money while their neighbours in small Border towns are finding that their businesses are going bust are contemptible. Moreover, I do not give a damn whether they are Trinity voters. That does not bother me because I feel repulsion towards this practice as well as a complete lack of solidarity with such people.

Other fat cats exist, such as the Judiciary. While it does not matter financially, it matters greatly in respect of presentation and appearance. I do not believe the Government has handled this issue terribly well. I listened to the former Supreme Court judge, Donal Barrington, on radio recently. He has a fine mind and made a very good point in respect of the present system. First, he does not agree with the opinion of the Attorney General, who I consider to be extraordinarily conservative. What is happening at present is that the decent judges are being penalised for fairness because the scheme is voluntary. The others simply get away with it and I do not believe it is a good system in which one insists that the good-hearted individuals who have some loyalty are penalised for their virtue.

The Minister also referred to the sensitive area of child benefit. People are highly sentimental about children, with the exception of the late Jonathan Swift who was notoriously unsentimental in that regard. However, it is a sensitive area and the good old left wing principle of giving to those according to their need and taking from those according to their capacity should be operative. For that reason, it is highly regrettable that the blunt instrument of across the board cuts has been used. It should have been taxed and means-tested.

Intriguingly, the Minister, Deputy Lenihan, said he had hoped to be able to introduce greater equity by making child benefit taxable or mean-tested, but that there were legal and logistical reasons why he could not do so. In a democracy, I would have anticipated that the House would have been told the reasons. Unless there is a specific technical or legal reason why the Minister cannot do so, I ask him to let us know, in simple form, the logistical and legal reasons. I support the Government's view on this matter. I am in favour of tax, means testing and the introduction of university fees on a properly means-tested basis. I have made that clear, even though it would make me very unpopular.

The national solidarity bond is a good idea which needs to be fronted. The Government needs to get out and sell it. Reference was made earlier to war bonds. I do not remember them but I remember the publicity surrounding them. People such as Bing Crosby and our own Count John McCormack developed a massive programme of sales of war bonds in America by dint of personality. There is an opportunity for people to show their confidence by buying some bonds. I would put myself forward.