A motion stating that “General Synod calls on the governments in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland respectively, to reduce the VAT burden of necessary remedial works on protected structures and asking the Church of Ireland to seek to cooperate with other churches in Ireland to advance this aim” has been presented at General Synod.

Mr Robert Symes proposed the motion highlighting the expense of having VAT imposed on remedial works of protected structures. He said that often hard won grants from Government bodies were paid back to the government in VAT. He hoped that a reduced VAT rate could be applied by both governments.

Seconding the motion, Trevor Sergant, said many churches were listed buildings and said it was a good opportunity to build ecumenical unity to strive to get something which would help us preserve our heritage.

“Our country’s heritage of listed buildings, north and south, is a wonderful legacy in many ways, but the cost of maintaining these landmark buildings incurs higher than average costs for many of our local parishes. This motion also has relevance to those beyond the Church of Ireland in the fact that many of these buildings serve well the needs of the wider community and tourism, for example,” he said.

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