Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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288. To ask the Minister for Finance the timeline for the extension of the excise relief programme which will offer 50% excise relief to small-scale cider producers following on from the announcement in Budget 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53099/21]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Council Directive 92/83/EEC, also known as the “Alcohol Structures Directive”, lays down a harmonised approach for the application of excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages in the EU. It sets out the categories of alcohol and alcoholic beverages that fall within scope of taxation and the basis on which excise duties on such products are to be established. Council Directive 2020/1151 amends Directive 92/83/EEC and comes into effect from next year. Directive 2020/1151 introduces a new provision (Article 13a) which will allow Member States the option to grant up to 50% excise relief to independent small producers of fermented beverages such as cider, subject to certain conditions.

Ireland fully supported the amendments to the Directive to allow Member States introduce excise reliefs for small producers of cider. I expect that such a relief could have a similar positive impact on the small independent cider production sector as the existing relief for small independent producers of beer has had for that sector. Therefore, as I indicated in my Budget speech on 12 October, I plan to bring forward legislative provisions in Finance Bill 2022 to introduce such a relief. Because the new Article 13a is structured differently to what is already permitted for small beer producers (under Article 4), the existing relief in Irish legislation for beer could not be simply extended to cider. It will be necessary to provide a separate new relief, which would be similar in concept but different in detail. While this measure will be broadly modelled on the existing relief arrangements for beer, further considerations will need to be given to ensure clarity in relation to scope of the relief and also to its design and implementation so as to minimise the administrative burden and any compliance risks. My Department is considering these matters further and will engage with the sector and with the Revenue Commissioners with a view to the measure being introduced in next year’s Finance Bill.