Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. Irish Community Air Ambulance, formerly known as Irish Community Rapid Response, was formed in Rathcoole in north Cork 23 months ago. In that time, it has been tasked close to 1,000 times by the National Ambulance Service. In 2020, it was tasked 490 times and so far in 2021, it has been tasked 225 times. This exemplifies the range of services the organisation provides and the dedication of its crew and the staff. The number of tasks in which Irish Community Air Ambulance has engaged has increased by 20% and these tasks include an increased number of farming-related incidents. Each task costs €3,500, which clearly represents value for money, saves many lives and ensures people are transported for treatment quickly.

Irish Community Air Ambulance leases its helicopters from Sloane Helicopters, a company based in the United Kingdom. In June, Sloane Helicopters will set up a company to enable it to continue operating in Ireland as a result of Brexit. The new company will operate under an Irish airline operating certificate, AOC, and Irish Community Air Ambulance will then lease helicopters from the new Irish entity. As a result of this new arrangement, Irish Community Air Ambulance will be charged VAT on its payments to Sloane Ireland. It also pays VAT on the fuel used to power its helicopter emergency medical service, HEMS, aircraft.I have been in contact with the chief executive, Michael Sheridan, who has met with Oireachtas representatives and spoken to us individually. I am advised that the charity will be pay €320,000 in VAT in a full calendar year based on its current levels of service. Should it provide an additional air ambulance base in the future in support of the National Ambulance Service it would expect to pay in excess of €640,000 in VAT in a full calendar year to provide our rural and urban communities with a vital lifesaving service. This will represent a significant cost for the charity, providing a vital service in support of the National Ambulance Service, as it is only a partial VAT recovery due to its charitable status, as the Minister of State knows. This VAT bill could instead be used by the charity to fund an additional 92 lifesaving missions each year.

The primary reason for my Commencement motion this morning is that the existing VAT relief scheme under section 103 of the Value Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 should be looked at and reviewed. In 2013, the former Minister, Michael Noonan, brought in a statutory instrument that provided that inshore aircraft be repaid any, "borne or paid tax in relation to— (a) the supply or hire to it, (b) the intra-Community acquisition or importation by it, or (c) the repair, modification or maintenance for it".

I appreciate, and I am sure the Minister of State does, the difficulty for Irish Community Air Ambulance in raising funds in this pandemic but also it is doing lifesaving work. The additional VAT costs will place an additional and significant burden on it in terms of fundraising that would not appear to be an equitable outcome, given that an exemption is in place for sea rescue craft. I am not creating a competition or adversarial situation. I am asking that we provide an equitable playing field to a charity that is providing huge service. Irish Community Air Ambulance has benefited each community by its inception, work and the manner of its work. I hope the Minister of State and the Government will look favourably on the request.