Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

I feel like I am living in a bit of a parallel universe. I am flattered that Senator Keane is so mindful of Sinn Féin policy in both Houses. Life has changed since this Bill was debated in the Dáil. As we have mentioned, it was decided today that an extra household charge of €100 should be introduced. That will change the ballpark figure. Senator Mullins mentioned that we need to incentivise people to go shopping. This measure will take money out of the pockets of the most needy people in our society, who have been hit by the universal social charge, job losses, cuts in their pay and increases in education fees etc. They are being hit left, right and centre. This extra tax, which seems to be a means of collecting money for local government, will impose an extra burden on those who spend every cent they have in their local shops. We think it would be completely counter-productive to take more of their money through this levy. If Fianna Fáil intends to push its amendment, we will be willing to withdraw our amendment and support the Fianna Fáil amendment, which recommends a level of 25 cent as opposed to our level of 26 cent and is equally fair.