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The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD, with his colleague the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan TD, today announced the commencement of a public consultation process for the ‘Agri-taxation Review’.

Minister Coveney said: “I have on-going contact with the Minister for Finance to ensure that tax policy reflects the Government’s commitment to agriculture and, in particular, to the objectives of smart, green, growth outlined in the Food Harvest 2020 strategy. The overall objective of the review is not to change the level of support to the sector through the tax system but rather to maximise the benefits to the sector and the economy for that existing level of support”.

Minister Noonan announced the Review in his Budget speech; his Department regularly reviews major tax expenditures relating to specific sectors. The objective of the review is to identify what works and what doesn’t, and redirect the existing level of tax expenditure towards activities of maximum benefit to this sector of the economy. Any recommendations will be considered in the context of Budget 2015.

The Ministers are now launching the public consultation aspect of the review and interested parties are invited to make submissions via their websites: www.finance.gov.ie and www.agriculture.gov.ie[1]. The Review will be overseen by a working group made up of the Department of Finance, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Revenue Commissioners. The working group may also invite key stakeholders to meet with them, including representative bodies, professionals dealing with the agriculture sector and other interested groups or individuals. As well the public consultation process, it is envisaged that the review will include an independent cost benefit analysis and an international benchmarking exercise.

Minister Coveney commented that, “A good level of engagement in the consultation process will influence the shape of policy in this area for the coming years.”