Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the House. Two constituents of mine were on holiday in Florida recently. The wife of the constituent who contacted me gave her mobile phone to an American friend in Orlando in order that he could phone his wife in Boston. This Irish couple were able to connect to the US network on that mobile phone, which their American friend borrowed to telephone his wife. He promised to pay the cost of the call. There was no difficulty about that and that was sorted. However, on returning home the couple discovered that they had been billed for calls made in the US to the tune of €52 on the basis of Irish value added tax. My constituent was puzzled as to how that charge could be levied given that the calls were made in another country.

When one travels to France or America and buys petrol, one is not charged Irish VAT on the price. Alternatively, if one goes to a restaurant or books a hotel in another country, one does not pay Irish VAT on such bills. The charge in this instance is unusual. It raises the issue that effectively people are possibly being charged double VAT when they use their mobile phones abroad. If I use my mobile phone in Dublin to telephone a friend in France, it makes sense that I pay Irish VAT on the cost of that telephone call. However, if I were in France and returned a telephone call to a friend in Dublin, I would be charged French VAT on the cost of that telephone call. In this instance there seems to be an element of double charging. I look forward to hearing the Minister's reply on this matter. I said I would bring this matter to his attention. He can imagine the shock the couple got on returning home to discover a bill of €52 for Irish VAT on the telephone calls made, one being by their American friend to his wife in America.