Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

They are different issues. Mr. McCarthy referred to one of my last points and perhaps he will comment on my next issue.

Everything we have talked about so far is related to exports and the potential risk of us not getting VAT that may be sent to an unregistered trader in another EU country. We are discussing a potential loss that may not be a real loss at all. Is there a risk coming the other way in terms of imports? Where is the greater level of loss? People who come in here and have VAT numbers that they should not have are a potential risk to the Irish Exchequer. I gather the report only dealt with exports, or at least that is my reading of it. I ask the witnesses to deal with the issue of imports and the potential for VAT loss.