Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Does the Minister accept that, in effect, the European Commission has made a preliminary finding regarding the tax relief for stallions? Has the Government made any further responses recently to inquiries from the Commission for more information, particularly on the point that Irish tax rules relating to stallions breach competition law and act as a State aid to stallion owners and companies in Ireland? Why did the Department of Finance not advise the European Commission about this scheme? It started in 1969 and Ireland joined the European Union in 1973. The Department does not appear to have advised the Commission until 1997, when the scheme was extended. The Department seems to have been aware that, since February 1999, there was no proper notification to the European Commission as there ought to have been. Does the Minister have a view on the implications of this scenario?

In recent days, the Minister acknowledged to me in answer to a written question that there is now the phenomenon of the non-resident stallion. In the rules as redefined and reclarified, the owner of a stallion which is non-resident for up to six months in any year can continue to benefit from tax relief. How will the Commission's preliminary findings impact on this phenomenon?

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