Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I am speaking about the amendment because I am contrasting the two. To go beyond Irish dancing, my kids did breakdancing in a place in north Dublin which went out of business. It was a brilliant school with hundreds of kids, but struggled because of the recession. It did its best to stay above water. I did not even consider the VAT issue. Following from what the Minister stated, it would have been subject to VAT. If it had obtained an exemption from VAT it probably would have made quite a difference to its prospects for survival. At the time when it was on the brink of going out of business I brought representatives from the school to meet the former Minister, Deputy Deenihan, to see whether anything could be done to save it.

It was evident, whatever about formal curricula, that this was healthy exercise. In terms of dance, it was innovative. It was as positive an activity as one could get children to do. It seems strange that Europe would say it will give a VAT exemption to member-owned golf club green fees but it will not give it to something like this or Irish dancing. It does not add up. I do not understand the logic of the policy. Member-owned golf clubs hardly qualify as a group that needs a particular exemption if, in other areas, like dance, the EU only allows exemptions if it categorises the activity as educational and it has a curriculum. How do these two activities compare?