Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to see the Minister is well. Deputy McGrath mentioned the 9% rate on the tourism sector earlier.

It is widely acknowledged that there has been growth in Dublin that has not been seen throughout the country. Is there any scope for a city tax like there is in other European countries based on the nightly value of accommodation? It would be specifically for Dublin and maybe other cities depending on the growth in the sector but it would keep the 9% rate as it is. In Holland, they also tax the Airbnb nightly rate. There are a couple of positives to that. It may level out the growth throughout the country and not have Dublin running away with itself. It would also allow us toquantify the number of beds in circulation in Airbnb and get a tax rate we could use in the city or throughout the country. Has that ever been considered in Ireland or would the Minister consider it?

On the investment funds coming in and paying 0%, the Minister referred to the curve as the point at which people will not pay tax. Is there scope there? Would it be true to say these investment vehicles were established when nobody in Ireland had the money to buy the property and there was stagnation in the market? Is there scope now to go to a 12.5% rate as opposed to a retrospective change in the tax band?

I have written to the Minister before about our VAT bands. It comes as a surprise to many people that there is a 23% VAT rate on injections in Ireland. For me, as a medical person, to have a VAT rate of 23% on a preventative medicine like a vaccine seems regressive. Oral medicines have no VAT on them. This is a huge issue in the agricultural sector where bulk antibiotics are being put into animal feed. Taxation needs to gather revenue but also influence behaviour. To try to influence people's behaviour, I would love to see scope to put a VAT rate on oral antibiotics in light of the huge antibiotic resistance issue we have coming down the line and to remove the 23% VAT rate on vaccines. For children getting the meningococcal vaccine, it would reduce the cost to parents. The advantages of immunisation against meningococcal disease in terms of hospital stay time and savings to the State are well documented. Within the same field, we have a 13.5% VAT rate on barrier contraceptives such as condoms in Ireland. There is a massive rise in sexually transmitted diseases in the country. With a nod towards this and preventative health measures, would it be possible to change the 13.5% VAT on condoms to 0% to highlight this very important public health issue?

I do not want to go on too much about the USC. I agree with Deputy Cullinane who has now left. Pretty much every expert who has come in here has spoken about the broad tax base that the USC created and told us it would not be such a good idea to erode that base. As somebody who pays a lot of USC, I can understand why many people would like to see it removed from their pay check or reduced over time. To address the massive hole we have in our pension fund in Ireland, is there any scope to divert a portion of the USC over a period of time over the next few budgets and change it to a PRSI style of tax? This would cushion against the pension timebomb coming down the road.

My question concerns the 9% VAT rate, the city tax option and the potential tax rate on foreign investment funds at 12.5%. We could even consider an increased stamp duty for foreign investments coming in. In addition, my question concerned the movement of items around VAT bands to influence behaviour.