81 Deputy Brian Lenihan asked the Minister for Finance if he will confirm that no changes to VAT are proposed in the forthcoming jobs initiative. [8796/11]

The Government has committed in the Programme for Government to introduce a Jobs Initiative. Included in this initiative is a commitment to lower the 13.5% reduced rate of VAT to 12% up to the end of 2013. The exact terms of this Jobs Initiative will be announced in the forthcoming weeks.