Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not changing the legal provision. A Revenue concession is in place regarding vitamins, minerals and fish oils, but it has proven difficult for the reasons outlined. It is the view of Revenue that the concession is no longer tenable and it will have to make decisions on how to interpret the legislation.

From a legislative point of view, this is a matter that we considered. Following the views put to me, particularly regarding public health, I decided that no change in legislation was required. This is an important matter and there are public health considerations to it. The Revenue Commissioners make decisions independently of me regarding how legislation is interpreted. I must respect that, but there are some policy decisions at stake that merit consideration. If the Deputy withdraws the amendment, I will give a commitment to deal with this matter in the context of a specific paper of the tax strategy group, TSG, during the summer period.