Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 126: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will give consideration to vehicle registration tax or VAT relief or any other incentives for publicans who provide small minibuses exclusively for the purposes of taking patrons to and from public houses; considering the drink driving laws and the absence of public transport or taxi facilities in some rural areas, his views on whether this is a proposal worthy of consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37468/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware a publican who provides a bus exclusively for the purpose of taking patrons to and from the public house will be entitled to claim a deduction for the VAT on the cost of acquisition of the bus, but only if the bus has more than 16 seats. Section 60 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 prohibits a deduction of tax to the extent that it relates to expenditure incurred on the acquisition of a motor vehicle, unless it is designed and constructed for the carriage of more than 16 persons, including the driver. If he charges the passengers for the transport, the publican will not be entitled to any VAT deduction, regardless of the size of the bus. This is because the carriage of passengers is exempt from VAT and no deduction can be claimed for tax charged on expenditure incurred in an exempt activity. With regard to Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT), I have no plans to introduce an exemption of VRT charged on mini-buses for publicans who wish to purchase same for the purpose of transporting customers.