Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

A figure of €20 million is a lot of money, although I know it is an estimate of the potential yield from this change. The point I ask the Minister to consider over the next two weeks, before Report Stage, is that it is ultimately a further charge on the tourism sector. The Minister has already decided to increase the lower VAT rate, which will generate between €400 million and €500 million in additional revenue from the broader hospitality and tourism sector. This extra money will principally come from tourists. The Minister says he believes companies will have the capacity to respond. They will do so by increasing car rental rates and that should be acknowledged. I understand that this measure was brought in when a new vehicle registration tax, VRT, regime was introduced 25 years ago to compensate leasing companies, rental car providers and driving school businesses for the change in how the excise duty was calculated on motor vehicles. We are talking about the VAT applied to vehicle registration tax. We will revisit the issue on Report Stage. It is a further burden on the tourism sector at a time when a significant change has been made to the taxation code in that area.