Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As Senator Casey has said quite eloquently, this is about the issue of the power transaction. The Minister of State has found his mojo, in fairness. His colleagues, the Ministers of State, Deputies Rabbitte and Troy, tabled parliamentary questions to the Minister on this matter when in opposition. What figures does the Minister of State or his Department have on VAT fraud? Deputy Rabbitte, now a Minister of State, asked about a consultative forum in the calendar year of 2019. Was such a forum constituted? Did it meet? If it did, what were the outcomes? I am not taking issue with the Minister of State but this VAT refund scheme has been running for more than 35 years. If one searches "tax-free shopping" on one's phone, one will see that every shop and retail business, north, south, east and west, mentions it on its website.

Senator has made my next point better than I can. We must be concerned about our competitiveness as a tourism destination. That is what I am concerned about. I thank the Minister of State for his engagement. I hope we can change this measure. As Senator Chambers said, we were in a different space last year. This year, the Covid-19 pandemic prevented travel which, as I said earlier, had a catastrophic effect on the tourism and hospitality industry. I thank the Minister of State again. I hope we can have the review first.