Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Unfortunately, both public and private providers have been hit by rising costs in recent years, particularly since Mr. Putin's evil war against Ukraine was launched. I wish to raise the reference costs regarding the scheme and the investment. It is outside the remit of the Minister but there is much concern among farmers over the changes and the interpretations of rules recently introduced by Revenue. This is resulting in additional costs for farmers because, in some instances, where they hoped to get a VAT reclaim on milk bulk tanks, slurry scrapers or milking equipment, it is no longer available. Therefore, it is important that the reference costs reflect the reality of investment. Unfortunately, there has been an escalation in costs across all sectors, and the farming and construction communities are not immune from this.

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