Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

I confess I admire the Minister's bravura in the context of indicating that if this initiative does not work by 2013 she expects industry to hand it back gladly. As this Government is finding out and as the last Government found out much to its electoral cost and otherwise, when one gives something to people and then tries to take it back, human nature being what it is, the people take to the streets. I wish the Minister well in an overall sense. As I explained on Second Stage I have no difficulty with this initiative but it is important to tease out plan B. One element of the Minister's reply which should be amplified more is the experience in France. From next week, there is an obligation on those in the services sector not only to pass on the VAT reduction but to alert the public to that reduction. The Minister is absolutely right that there is a widespread perception among visitors that Ireland is an expensive destination despite the reduction in hotel room prices we have already seen and the general lowering of food prices across the retail sector. Perhaps the Minister and I heard the same clip on the "News at One" in which a tour operator who brings tourists around Britain and Ireland observed that there are invariably comments from his customers that Ireland remains expensive. One presumes these comments relate to the price of dining rather than accommodation, which would not arise in that instance.

At the time of the somewhat ill-fated Carling Nations Cup in the Aviva Stadium involving Northern Ireland, Wales, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland in a quadrangular tournament, Mr. Roddy Forsyth, the much respected sports commentator with BBC Radio 5 - the Minister will forgive me if I am indulging in a little bit of anorak here, being a great admirer of both Mr. Forsyth and BBC Radio 5 - commented on Pat Kenny's show, when asked by the host about the experience of Scottish football fans, who are used to travelling everywhere, that the one constant among them was their conclusion that Dublin is an expensive city. I presume again that this referred to drinking and dining. There is a significant obligation on those who are being given this opportunity to trumpet it from the rooftops and to pass on the reductions to customers.

Prices often vary widely throughout the State, with a cup of coffee, for example, costing anything between €2.50 and €4.50. Perhaps we could use that as a benchmark to monitor prices nationally, in the same way that McDonald's Big Mac is used as a benchmark internationally for price comparison purposes. The Government might launch some type of initiative to encourage people to pass on the reductions and to show them Big Brother is watching. In that context, I applaud Joe Duffy's €5 Fridays initiative to tie in with the introduction of the reductions. All of this should generate a great deal of heat and light; I hope it will put a moral responsibility on those who might see it as an opportunity to absorb costs. They should bear in mind something Governments sometimes forget, namely, that reducing a form of taxation or the price of a product or service, instead of leading to a reduction in income may instead lead to increased incomes.

I watched with a somewhat jaundiced eye as the proposal was put forward from the other side of the House. I already referred to the decision of the last Government to reduce the minimum wage and that this initiative was taken at the time following forceful and active lobbying by the industry. I recall proposals being put forward along similar lines to what is being proposed today, namely, that there should be some time limit placed on the provision or some type of monitoring or evaluation after a specified period. These proposals were not rubbished, but the steadfast response was that the industry had made its case that a reduction in the minimum wage would generate jobs. This turned out not to be the case and I was happy to concede that point last week. In the context of the amendment being put forward by the Government, the phrase that comes to mind - though I do not speak French - is "plusçachange.....".