Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This section deals with the relief for capital expenditure on slurry storage, which is somewhat different from the issue Senator Burke raised. However, I am aware of the issue so I am happy to say a word about it. It has been raised a little more with me recently than it has been for some time, and the reason for that is very clear, that is, that solar panels and investment in them is now a far bigger opportunity than it ever has been and is being considered by far more farmers - indeed, not just farmers.

First, the issue of access to the basic payment is not a tax matter; it is a matter for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I will happily raise the matter with him because in recent months the tax treatment of solar panels and this issue has come up with me in a way it has not before.

As for the tax treatment of solar panels, we will be able to look at whether that can be supported a little more in the future from a VAT point of view because of the changes that have happened in the last VAT directive. I have asked my Department to look at that matter in the context of the tax strategy group process and for it to be considered as part of the next budget because there is a little more flexibility with regard to this than we have had before. That said, whatever flexibility is available from a VAT point of view I suspect will not be equivalent to the issue the Senators raise. I believe the issue is that if a farmer decides to cover more than a certain amount of his or her lands with solar panels, that creates an issue with access to that payment. I think Senators will need to deal with that issue on its own because even with the additional flexibility that may be available from a VAT point of view, which would only really deal with purchase, I do not think it will be enough to deal with the issue the Senators have raised. However, I am happy to raise the matter with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and to see if there are ways in which progress can be made on the issue. I do not think, however, that we will be able to do anything from a tax point of view that will be enough to offset and mitigate the issue Senator Burke in particular has raised.