Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy knows there are different issues affecting VAT. He is aware excise is applied to a unit of fuel and remains the same regardless of the fuel's price. It is based on volume. Therefore, no extra revenue is raised from the excise duty if the price increases. VAT is different. People ask why excise duties cannot be reduced, but excise is based on volume, not price. However, I accept there have been extra VAT receipts, which have gone some of the way towards paying for some of the measures we have introduced recently.

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