Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

I welcome the opportunity to clarify the situation in Northern Ireland because it is often misconstrued by members of the Labour Party and Fine Gael who obviously do not know what they are talking about when it comes to the Northern Ireland situation. This is due to the lack of interest they seem to have in it. One cannot compare apples with oranges and the situation is completely different in Northern Ireland. Senator Landy should know that the funding situation in the North of Ireland is that the Administration has no powers to raise fiscal moneys and it is subject to a block grant from Westminster which was cut by a number of billion pounds this year. The Senator should know that the Administration has no control over this decision.

Sinn Féin has taken measures to introduce a social development fund, the social inclusion fund. The property charges to which Senator Landy referred were put in place before Sinn Féin was ever in government in Northern Ireland. It would be important if we are having that discussion-----