Catherine Noone (Fine Gael)

I welcome the announcement yesterday that the rate of VAT on tourism products will remain at 9%. I have received feedback from the Restaurants Association of Ireland and employers in the industry throughout the city of Dublin that this announcement gives them certainty in planning prices and menus for the next year. It is to be welcomed and is helping employment in the industry.

I support the comments of previous speakers on society in general and the drink culture. While Senator Tom Sheahan was shocked to see the carry-on on O'Connell Street, with people taking drugs, the problem is not confined to such persons. Ordinary respectable people - I cannot think of a better word - are drinking to excess on a Saturday night and behaving in a totally unbelievable manner on the streets, with individuals being sick and doing things I do not want to discuss on the Order of Business. In Dublin 4 and the surrounding area we see girls dressed in very scant clothing and boys in tracksuits and jeans. They are drinking and their parents do not know they are going out dressed like this. It is a huge societal problem, to which Senator Paul Bradford alluded, and it is not confined to young people, beggars and people taking drugs on the streets.