Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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We also do not know how that G7 arrangement is going to evolve or be implemented, and whether or not it is merely a political declaration remains to be seen.

To return to remarks made with regard to broadening the tax base, this is something this Administration seems unlikely to do based on the evidence from the previous Administration. If I were a member of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare, I would be annoyed because none of the recommendations it made on potential revenue-raising have been implemented. We know that there is probably approximately €8 billion in tax expenditures in the economy every year and they are rarely reviewed. A lot of them have taken on the form of permanency in recent years. Now, in anticipation of the budget on 7 October, it is likely that another significant tax expenditure will be added to that, namely, the proposed 9% VAT rate for the hospitality sector. Do the witnesses agree, given that the economy is running hot and that our tax expenditures are rarely reviewed, that if this is done, it has the likelihood of becoming a more permanent feature of the framework, potentially costing approximately €3 billion between now and the end of the term of this Government? Do they agree that is economically irrational from a policy point of view and quite stupid?