Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I understand that. I take it that the Minister has acknowledged that there will be serious challenges for farmers. Some have suggested the additional costs could be up to €30,000. I assume the Minister is not contesting that there are real challenges in relation to this. He can contest it if he feels that is not the case.

I hear what the Minister is saying. We were involved in those discussions over a long period, but the statutory instrument which took effect from 1 September has removed these farmers from the flat-rate addition. That is what my original question was about. Taking what the Minister said about how the flat-rate addition was operating and how some may have benefited unintentionally or not in the way envisaged under the legislation, has the statutory instrument not removed them from the flat-rate addition as of 1 September? What is this section doing that is additional to the statutory instrument? If they are gone from the flat-rate addition, they are gone. Is this not about registration for VAT purposes?