Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

This is an issue of concern to me. I wrote to the Central Bank on it last week. I will send a copy of the letter to Mr. Cummins for his records. I ask him to stay in touch with me regarding any data he gets on it. I have asked the consumer protectorate division of the Central Bank to keep an eye on this issue because it would be inherently anti-competitive for business. As I think Mr. Cummins will acknowledge, the Government is providing a range of restart and liquidity grants, albeit not all of them have been released and there are more to come under the July stimulus. However, they are not intended to support the insurance industry. Rather, they are intended to support businesses such as the members of the RAI. I ask Mr. Cummins to stay in touch with me on that matter.

On the reduction in VAT, many businesses were able to use the previous reduction in VAT to invest in their businesses. That involved, for example, supporting other industries such as the construction industry. Those businesses now have commercial loans that will come due in September. It is clear that they will be able to access the refinancing that will be available under the new Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment legislation, which will not undergo pre-legislative scrutiny and, as such, will happen faster. Would the industry be interested in a conditional VAT reduction, where the difference is used to support other industries such as construction, or was Mr. Cummins referring solely to an absolute reduction in VAT?