Seanad debates

Thursday, 3 December 2020

Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2020: Committee Stage

 

9:30 am

Photo of Pat CaseyPat Casey (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will probably end up going over some of the same points. Does the Minister of State understand my point? Will he accept that we are clearly disenfranchising the owners of small, independent craft shops across the country with this €75 threshold? They will be the most impacted. I would like him and the Minister for Finance to accept that these are the people this will affect. I fully accept that it does not affect larger businesses. The Minister of State said that Brexit was not our decision, and it was not, but this is our decision. This is the Government's proposal. It has decided to bring this in. Nobody has asked it or forced it. What we are voting on today is a choice of this Government. It might be related to Brexit but it is the Government's decision to bring it in.

In the past year, Spain, knowing that the UK was leaving, brought in a threshold of zero. That was after it found out. France has reduced the threshold to €100. We should be using this is a positive issue, not a negative one. The Minister of State indicates that there is a cost to the Exchequer. I wonder if there is an actual cost. For every extra euro that is spent, what is the multiplier for the local economy that can go into people's pockets? We do not have the information, yet we are making the decision against the 3.3 million visitors who availed of this in 2019 and over the past 35 years. We have a new market of 3 million visitors coming in from the UK who can avail of this scheme but we are disenfranchising those overseas visitors who have availed of it. That is a negative matter from their point of view.

If somebody comes into my shop tomorrow morning and buys something for €75, it actually costs them €60, but if that person buys something for €74, it costs €74. I do not understand any figure. It should return to the simple message that we have had for the last 35 years, that there is tax-free shopping to support our industry, tourism and retail, all the way down. I am disappointed with the word that is coming through. Senators Chambers and Buttimer have suggested solutions but we are being ignored. If we are being ignored, can the Minister of State and Minister for Finance admit that this has disenfranchised small, independent craft shop owners throughout the country? Can he admit that they are the people who will suffer at the end of the day because of this amendment? Can he give any evidence of what the impact is, because nothing has been done?

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