Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The point is that if a local group in Gaoth Dobhair, down in Limerick or anywhere else wants to come together and do something for the centenary of 1916, it will pay VAT on products it must acquire, although it would be a not-for-profit group. I suggest that there must be a way to get around this, given the significance of the event. In the Minister's absence, we dealt with the living city initiative, which is wide enough with respect to the cities across the State. This is a specific issue dealing with the commemoration of the 1916 Rising and the Proclamation of independence for this State. I assume these events would be deemed as being cultural and cultural bodies are exempt from VAT. I assume that if this was something in which the Government was interested, it could be approached under a cultural heading.

We should try to use the goodwill of the public, which wants to organise activities and events or construct monuments, and not have the Government profit from it. The Government will take almost €1 from every €4 that will be spent by local voluntary groups marking the centenary of the 1916 Rising. With regard to respecting those who gave their lives in that event, it would not be a nice way to mark the centenary. Where there is a will, there is a way, so will the Government consider options to ensure events within a controlled environment can be excluded from VAT. Perhaps some of the suggestions I spoke about could be used, as cultural bodies could be included in having approved events coming from local community groups. I am sure there are other suggestions and the staff can think outside the box in formulating a solution for this.