David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

However, we will not be able to win an overall majority in Westminster so we will be able to set the rates of social welfare which apply in the North. What we have done is we have made sure there are no water charges there. There is free health and free education in the North and we introduced free prescription charges. We also introduced a social inclusion fund and a social development fund, in very difficult circumstances.

The Minister is shaking her head, but while there are Tory social welfare cuts being pushed through the Assembly currently, similar to those the Minister and her party is trying to implement, Sinn Féin is standing resolutely against them. We will not vote for Tory cuts and will not support them, whether they come from the Labour Party in this State or directly from the Tory party in the North. Our position is consistent. We will protect low income families.

We will protect middle income families. Unlike the Minister, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, who talks about flags of convenience for those Labour Party Senators who have a conscience, a man who is under more flags-----