Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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190. To ask the Minister for Finance the status of an investigation by the European Commission (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35154/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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My Department and the Revenue Commissioners have a legal obligation to protect taxpayer confidentiality and due to the small number of taxpayers involved in this particular sector, they are precluded from commenting on the matter.

I would point out, however, that Section 46 of the recently published Finance Bill provides for a restriction of the flat-rate scheme with effect from 1 January 2017.  The amendment gives the Minister for Finance the power to make an order excluding particular agricultural goods or agricultural services from the flat-rate addition scheme.  The power can be exercised where the Revenue Commissioners has carried out a review and the Minister is satisfied that, because of the business structures, contractual arrangements or models in place in a particular sector, the application of the flat-rate addition within that sector has resulted in, and would otherwise continue to result in, a systematic excess of flat-rate addition payments over VAT on inputs incurred by flat-rate farmers in that sector.