Cowen says sorry as stallion tax breaks face ban

Harry McGee, Political Editor

Finance Minister Brian Cowen apologised to the Dáil for inadvertently misleading it on Tuesday when he said the commission had not been in contact with Finance since last April. He argued that, because of the lack of communication, the stallion tax issue seemed to be low on the commission’s priorities. Mr Cowen’s correction of the record came after the Irish Examiner contacted the department following the minister’s speech on Tuesday, and pointed out that the commission had indeed written to the department about the stallion tax last month.

This newspaper reported in January that the EU Agriculture Commission had sent a letter to the department of Finance indicating that the stallion tax was an illegal State aid and asked it to supply further information relating to the controversial scheme.