A NORTHSIDE group that provides cardiac care and other emergency medical assistance to people in the community is calling for VAT on lifesaving equipment to be removed.
Raheny Community First Responders, which was established in 2015, comprises local volunteers trained in CPR and.
The group recently purchased its third automated external defibrillator (AED) for the area but had to pay 23 per cent VAT on the equipment.
Joe Mooney, coordinator of Raheny Community First Responders, said the defibrillators his group uses cost €995 and when VAT is added, the total comes to €1,223.85.
“As our community group is not funded by Government, we rely 100 per cent on donations from the public and local companies,” said Mr Mooney.
“Our group is very aware of the VAT on defibrillators as we have fundraised for three of them and have had two donated to us.
“The VAT alone for the five of them is over €1,100 which means that without the VAT we could have had another public AED in the community.
“The VAT is a massive burden on our fundraising efforts.”
Mr Mooney believes the VAT should be removed with immediate effect.
“It would make a huge difference to us and all other community first responder groups around Ireland.”
According to Mr Mooney, there are nearly 140 community first responder groups around the country.
“Each group has a minimum of one defibrillator with most groups having two,” he said. “Many groups are placing public defibrillators around their communities to save lives.
“By removing VAT on defibrillators it would greatly ease the fundraising costs needed to purchase defibrillators and therefore, increase the number of them around Ireland.”
Mr Mooney believes the VAT is “unfair and wrong”.
“VAT on defibrillators is putting income for the Government before the lives of people of Ireland,” he argued.
Mr Mooney believes the Government should offer grants to community first responder groups to cover the cost of defibrillators.
“However, they can take a long time with paperwork and red tape to get the money so we believe the only way forward is a total scrappage of VAT on defibrillators,” he added.
A spokesman for the Department of Finance said the VAT rating of goods and services is constrained by the requirements of EU VAT law with which Irish VAT law must comply.
“Defibrillators, other than implantable defibrillators, are liable to VAT at the standard rate, currently 23 per cent,” he told Northside People.
“However, training provided in a work setting, for example for the purposes of health and safety in a company or for medical persons who require such training for their profession, would qualify as exempt vocational training for VAT purposes.”
The spokesman added: “In the Programme for Government, the Government recognises the difficulties faced by community groups in relation to VAT rates on defibrillators and commit to working with EU counterparts in seeking to reform this area.”
Sinn Fein MEP Matt Carty has called on the European Commission to allow governments to abolish VAT charges for important community facilities such as the provision of defibrillators.
Joe Mooney said his group would support Mr Carty’s call.
