Finance Bill 2025 [Certified Money Bill]: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-16
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Paul Daly (FF), Agricultural Panel

There was a bit of a misunderstanding. It was down to the goodwill of the Tánaiste, and I thank him for his engagement. We spoke here the last day and he had to leave the Chamber. He told me he would deal with it today on Report Stage. With that in mind, rather than actually speaking on the amendment then, I said I was withdrawing it with a view to bringing it back today. Apparently, if it is not discussed, it cannot be brought back, but I appreciate the fact we have been given an opportunity to speak on it today. It is an amendment that the Tánaiste probably could not or would not want to accept anyway and it is something that probably cannot be changed in the Finance Bill. However, it is an anomaly and I want to highlight it. It is something we might get the wheels in motion on to find a workable solution for the people whom it affects.
It is about the issue with flat rate VAT and selling livestock in a mart. I am not going to try to explain to the Tánaiste how the flat rate VAT compensation works for farmers who are not registered. It is a complicated system, but in the budget it was reduced from 5.1% to 4.5%. There is also, however, a livestock rate of 4.8% which did not change. Now that the 4.5% rate is obviously lower than the 4.8% rate, if I as a non-registered farmer go to the mart and sell that animal for €1,000, forgetting about commissions and all that, I will bring home €997.14 as a flat rate, whereas if I sell that animal to the abattoir, the factory, and get the same €1,000 price, I will bring home the €1,000. That is because the 4.5% rate is now lower than the 4.8% rate. When it was 5.1%, I would have brought home more than €1,000. However, it is only when things go below that we hear from the lobbyists. The Irish Co-operative Organisation Society, ICOS, has been on to me. It represents 150,000 members and 130 co-operatives and marts which employ 12,000 people in the sector. The fear is that farmers will now will go directly to the abattoirs. We all know how important the local mart is to the local economy of the area where it is based.
The amendment was that the flat rate and the livestock rate would be brought together and equalised going forward. It is not something that could be done in this Bill but maybe it is something we could start out from today to achieve over a period of time. As the Tánaiste is aware, the flat rate is decided based on the macroeconomic data from the CSO and a decision is made by the Minister for Finance with Revenue. It is a similar process for the livestock rate. It is not a mad proposal that somebody would look at the potential of coupling them going forward.
It would avoid all anomalies going forward if the flat rate was equivalent to the livestock rate. It would need some research and work but when the macroeconomic data is being accumulated it should be done simultaneously. If equalisation needs to be introduced to one or the other to have them on a par, that might also be possible. I know the Minister would not have been able to accept the recommendation. I thank him for his interaction and I apologise to the Leas-Chathaoirleach for the confusion caused by the fact I did not discuss the recommendation on Committee Stage. I hope the Minister can give me a positive response and I thank him again for his engagement.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:28+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-16