Matt Shanahan on VAT anomaly and coach HEPA filter costs
Matt Shanahan raised concerns about VAT treatment in the luxury coach sector and the need for improved air filtration on buses. He thanked Mr Spratt for agreeing to provide officials for a meeting and urged the department to examine VAT differences and HEPA filter options to protect passengers.
Meeting arrangements
Matt Shanahan thanked Mr Spratt for agreeing to provide himself and some of his seniors for a meeting and said he would try to organise colleagues to meet quickly. The Chair indicated willingness to meet, suggested arranging it for next week, and said officials would be in touch with his office to set it up.
VAT anomaly between jurisdictions
He pointed out an anomaly vis-a-vis the court service in Northern Ireland, which runs tours around Ireland, and said there is a substantial difference in terms of VAT. He argued this creates a competitive advantage for operators north of the border compared with Irish coached tourism and private bus operators and asked that the matter be examined.
Bus ventilation and HEPA filter options
Shanahan highlighted that many newer buses no longer have open windows and rely on recirculated air through air-conditioning systems. He noted that some newer buses can accept HEPA filters relatively easily while retrofitting older buses is more involved.
Costs and passenger-safety initiative
He estimated the cost of HEPA filters for some buses at around €700 to €900 and said retrofitting older vehicles would be significantly more expensive. He urged the department to consider this as an initiative to raise fleet standards and improve infection-prevention measures in the private bus sector.
Next steps and expectations
The exchange closed with an agreement to follow up promptly, with officials keen to understand the challenges and do their best to resolve as many issues as quickly as possible. Shanahan expressed appreciation and expectation that the office would be contacted to coordinate the meeting.
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Just come in quickly, Chair, if I may. I'd like to thank Mr Spratt for agreeing to provide, hopefully, himself and some of his seniors for a meeting, and I'll try and organise some of us here when we try and get that done quickly. I think that would be very helpful. Could I just point out one thing with respect to the luxury court sector? I believe there's an anomaly vis-a-vis the court service in Northern Ireland, which obviously does tours around Ireland. We're very grateful for that, but there's a substantial difference there in terms of VAT. The dealing of VAT between the Irish coached tourism and private bus operators versus the North of Ireland, and maybe that's something that you could look at in terms of competitive grounds, because it is a significant advantage. And just the other thing is that some of the newer bus fleet, I understand, as you probably know, there's no open windows on buses anymore, so they're requiring recirculated air through the air conditioning system. And some newer buses may have the ability to put HEPA filters on quite easily. Older buses, it's a more involved job. This is a modification to the existing air circulation system, but again, perhaps it's something the department need to have a look at in terms of passenger safety. For some buses, it's easily done and not too expensive. I think around €700 to €900 for the filter. For older buses, I think it's probably a lot more, but I think, again, it's an initiative that should be looked at. We try to get our fleet up to standard and get a reasonable level of infection prevention going in the private bus sector. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Deputy, and happy to meet, and we might try and arrange that for next week, if you wish, but keen to understand challenges and keen to do our best to try and resolve as many of those issues as quickly as we possibly can. So we'll certainly be in touch at your office to get that set up. Very much. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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