Mr. James McGinley:

Yes, it is a huge issue. We are VAT-exempt whereas they are zero-rated in Northern Ireland. Basically, what it means is that Northern Ireland operators can claim back all their VAT costs, so ultimately all their costs are 20% less. It is a derogation the UK had when it joined the EU, which is how the situation came about in the first place. It seems it is very difficult to change. In the past, we lobbied and hoped the Government could do it another way, through a fuel rebate for example, as there was in the past, or some different way so that the discrepancy would not have the same effect. As Senator Carrigy said, we are based in County Donegal, which is right on the Border, so an operator just ten miles across the Border has 20% lower costs. In the current environment where costs are huge for us all and when we are seeing increased costs, that is the difference between making a profit and not doing so.