Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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93. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of meetings that have taken place as part of the review of tax relief in the agricultural sector; when he expects a report on the subject to the published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8847/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The AgriTaxation Review is being managed by the AgriTaxation working group which is comprised of officials from the Department of Finance, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Revenue Commissioners.

This working group meets regularly and has ongoing discussions on AgriTaxation policy issues. The working group has held six meetings since June 2013 on the specific issue  of the AgriTaxation Review.

The Review is being undertaken in line with Department of Finance policy to review major tax expenditures on a regular basis and follows on from recent reviews of the R&D tax credit, film relief and property reliefs.

There are two main elements to the Review, a public consultation and an external cost benefit analysis.

The public consultation part of the Review was launched by both Ministers last week and interested parties are invited to make submissions via the following websites: and .

As well as the public consultation process, it is envisaged that the Review will include an independent cost benefit analysis incorporating an international benchmarking exercise.

It  is expected that a request for tender will be published shortly.

  The objective of this Review is to identify what works and what doesn't, and ensure the existing level of tax expenditure leverages maximum benefit to this important sector of the economy. Any recommendations will be considered in the context of Budget 2015 and it is expected that the final report of the working group will be published around Budget time.