Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 71:

In page 92, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following:

“Report on measures to support craft industry in Ireland 75. The Minister shall, within 3 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on tax measures to support the craft industry in Ireland including through the use of VAT rates.”.

This amendment relates to the craft industry. It is looking at what opportunities are available to support the craft industry in Ireland. A number of people have been chatting to me about it. It is great to see as you travel through the State little co-operatives starting to spring up where there are shared spaces, maybe a shopfront and a number of different crafters selling their wares. They sometimes take turns or maybe somebody is employed to man the shop. Obviously, this is indigenous Irish craft where we are talking about baskets, sculptures and the typical crafts. They have raised concerns with me around the tax treatment of the products, and whether there was additional support that could be provided to try to encourage what is a cottage industry. The people are making a small amount of revenue. Can something be looked at in terms of the tax code to support an industry which, I am sure, all of us would like to see develop and flourish? That is the question.

I do not have a proposal as to what should happen. That is why I am asking for an examination to see whether the tax code, VAT or any other part of the tax code, could be used to try to assist something that is happening organically but probably needs a little bit of support to develop.