(Limerick West) asked the Minister for Finance if he will reconcile his reply to Parliamentary Question No. 80 of 11 June 1985 where he stated that the information requested is not available with a statement he made on the evening of 16 May 1985 at an IFA meeting in County Kildare that 12,000 of those farmers had no taxable income.
Written Answers. - Taxable Income.
13.
I wish to reiterate, as in my reply of 11 June 1985, that revenue records do not distinguish between liable and non-liable cases. Accordingly, it is not possible to state with complete accuracy the number of full time farmers on accounts who had no taxable income for 1983-84. The figure quoted by me, at the meeting to which the Deputy refers, is, I believe, the best estimate that can be made in the absence of more exact official information.