Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 April 2024
228. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Finance if he will increase accessibility to therapeutic services by extending the VAT exemption to counsellors and psychotherapists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16591/24]
View answer229. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Finance to respond to proposals raised in respect of extending the VAT exemption to counsellors and psychotherapists in Ireland (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16595/24]
View answer233. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Finance his plans to extend the VAT exemption to counsellors and psychotherapists accredited by the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16618/24]
View answer236. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Finance if he plans to provide a pre-registration VAT exempt status for qualified and accredited members of an organisation (details supplied) and seek to rectify the inequities arising from the delay in establishing the statutory register; if he accepts that this proposal aligns with established practices and ensures that fair treatment prevails in the interim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16688/24]
View answer237. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Finance for clarification on a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16689/24]
View answer238. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Finance his plans to grant VAT exemption to counsellors and psychotherapists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16704/24]
View answer239. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Finance if he will address the anomaly that sees a VAT exemption applied to the services of psychologists but not to suitably qualified psychotherapists and counsellors (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16745/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 228, 229, 233 and 236 to 239, inclusive, together.
As the Deputies will be aware, the VAT rating of goods and services is subject to the requirements of EU VAT law with which Irish VAT law must comply. Under our legislation the provision of medical care services by recognised medical professionals are exempt from VAT. This includes health professionals registered under the Medical Practitioners Act 2007, the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011, and those engaged in a regulated profession designated under Section 4 of the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005.
Statutory Instrument No. 170 of 2018 (Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (Regulations 2018)) of 2 July 2018 designates psychotherapists and counsellors as a regulated profession and establishes the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board. Professional counselling and psychotherapy services provided by persons registered by this Board are exempt from VAT from the date of their registration. Where such services are supplied by a person who is not so registered (including where the services are provided by a person in advance of their being so registered) then the supply of the service is liable to the reduced rate of VAT, currently 13.5%.
Psychologists are listed as designated professionals in the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005, although the register of psychologists envisaged by that legislation has not yet opened. I am advised by Revenue that, because the supply of services by psychologists were exempt from VAT for many years prior to the 2005 Health legislation, that pre-existing exemption has been maintained pending commencement of the Psychologists register.
On 27 February 2019, the then Minister for Health, Simon Harris TD, confirmed the establishment of and appointment of members to the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board, under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (amended) to regulate the professions of Counsellors and Psychotherapists. The thirteen members of the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board were appointed with effect from 25 February 2019.
Questions on the establishment of the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board and their progress in opening their register are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Health.
I understand that officials in my Department have engaged with their counterparts in the Department of Health in relation to this matter and have advised them that the VAT exemption in question will apply from the date of registration by the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board.
