Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As things stand, value added tax, VAT, on health supplements will be charged at the rate of 23% throughout the State starting in March. When Sinn Féin raised this issue during the debate on the Finance Act 2018, the Minister agreed to examine it in the context of the tax strategy papers later this year. We know that the Revenue Commissioners are sitting on an expert report on this issue yet the increase is going ahead in March. This is not really joined-up thinking. One part of the State is to look at the issue later in the year and another part refuses to say what its report says. In case the Government is not aware, though I imagine its members probably are, this major change will affect many thousands of users of supplements as well as workers in that industry. Will the Government provide some leadership on this issue? Will it suspend the planned increase, sit down with Revenue, bang heads together until there is clarity, if that is what is required, and engage in dialogue with those who are affected?

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