Simon Harris
Wicklow · Fine Gael · Ireland
“There are more than 10,000 routes and thousands of buses involved and the number of students using the services is not a million miles away from 200,000. The current terms of the scheme are going to continue to apply for the 2026-27 school year.”
“I thank Deputy McDonald for raising what is genuinely an important issue. I do take the point that when we talk about this in the abstract or from a process point of view in here, that for people watching this is their real lived experience.”
“There number of children who have been supported by means of the school transport scheme, as Deputy Fitzmaurice knows and has alluded to, has grown significantly in recent years. Since 2018, the number increased from 120,000 in 2018 to more than 181,000 now. Included in that figure are 24,000 pupils with special educational needs.”
“I knew the Deputy would have to mention the GAA, especially with Galway and Limerick playing at the weekend. I wish everybody involved the best of luck. We are very committed to the school transport scheme. If the Deputy wants to see our commitment, he should look to our budget.”
“An ageing population, increasing healthcare needs, the transition to net zero and the need for continued investment in housing, energy and infrastructure will place a significant demand on public resources.”
“There is also a legitimacy to the point the Deputy made about how it is a legitimate form of transport for some people. We see this working in other European countries. We see it in our nearest neighbours. I do not want to get the regime wrong, but I think they have registration at the point of purchase that allows people to track this.”
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“I accept we are seeing a churn in terms of landlords coming into the market and landlords leaving the market, but we are actually also seeing more tenancies than before. Nationally, approved housing bodies have seen their registered tendencies grow year on year and quarter on quarter. Private tenancies have also grown annually to 240,751. In Dublin, an area where there is often particularly acute housing pressure, registered private tenancies rose by 4.3% annually to 108,174. Deputy Doherty says his position on rent and rental protections is clear. I am not sure it is because I genuinely do not know today whether or not Sinn Féin supports rent pressure zones. Deputy Ó Broin did not support them.”
“Deputy Gould should hang on a second and give me a chance. It now stands at 62% of properties, which affects more than six out of ten people. It also finds the benefit of the rent pressure zones because it finds that, where rents have increased, it is disproportionately in areas not covered by rent pressure zones. Deputy Doherty likes to talk a lot about what has happened since the election. What has happened since the election is that this Government that was re-elected and reformed took a decision to extend nationwide the rent property zones, including, in the Deputy's own county, Carndonagh, Buncrana, Lifford, Letterkenny, Milford, Glenties and Donegal town, areas that were not covered by rent pressure zones until we brought in those measures in recent times. I have no doubt that is also going to provide much assistance and protection.”
“There is a kind of rhythm to Deputy Doherty's questions these days, whereby he selectively quotes from publications that have just come out. He may not have had a chance to fully read it yet, but the RTB report out this morning does show something that he chose not to share with Dáil Éireann or with renters, which is that the ESRI's individual property level analysis shows that 62% of properties nationally saw no change in rent year on year. That number is up by 4.8 percentage points compared with the previous year. We have a real challenge in terms of housing - indeed it is an emergency - but we are now seeing a situation where the number of rental properties not seeing an increase has increased further on last year and now stands-----”
“First, I join with colleagues in welcoming our former colleague, Ireland's friend and our Commissioner in the European Union, Commissioner McGrath, and thank him for the job he is doing in the European Commission on crucial areas at this time. I also join with Deputy Doherty in welcoming the group from the Shankill Shared Women's Centre to the Public Gallery. I thank him for the important work he is doing also. On behalf of Deputies right across this Chamber and the people of Ireland, I send our solidarity and support to the people of Hong Kong and to all of the families affected by the horrific apartment block fire last night. It was truly devastating and is deeply disturbing. We think of all of those impacted at this very difficult time.”
“While we are living through a housing emergency and while many measures to address that are being taken to address by the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, and all of Government, it is worth noting that we have seen the highest number of first-time home buyers this year since 2007. This latest measure needs to be seen as part of the overall policy jigsaw that has been put together to significantly increase supply. I commend the amendment to the House.”
“This measure, which is consistently and constantly misrepresented by others, will actually have a benefit for people building social and affordable homes and student accommodation. We have also made a change in the resolution that came before the House yesterday - obviously, it is linked to these VAT amendments - to make sure that the help to buy scheme can continue to be accessed by first-time buyers who are purchasing apartments that have been built at the lower rate. This measure cannot be seen in isolation. It is one of a number of measures we are taking to reduce the viability gap.”
“It is important as we seek to increase the supply of homes right across this country. That is what this VAT measure does. It endeavours to reduce the viability gap that those who build apartments face when considering whether to advance projects across the country that have planning permission but where the sale of apartments may not have been deemed viable. That simply is what this is about. Over the course of the past number of days we have taken measures to ensure that this reduced VAT rate applies to student accommodation, an issue that I know is very important to the Minister for further and higher education, making sure that the lower rate of VAT will also apply to purpose-built student accommodation and to approved housing bodies.”
“My officials will continue to monitor the relevant data as it becomes available. Affordability and the chance to own a home lie at the heart of our housing policy. The Government has introduced a comprehensive implementation strategy, which is in place to support the various affordable housing schemes now being delivered by a range of partners. A record €6 billion capital investment in housing was announced in budget 2025. This is made up of €3.1 billion in Exchequer funding, €1.25 billion allocated to the Land Development Agency and €1.65 billion for the Housing Finance Agency. This is the highest ever capital investment in the history of our country. In order to meet the housing needs of our people, however, there needs to be private sector involvement too. Private sector involvement is not a dirty phrase.”
“In order to stimulate the development of apartments, which is high-density housing, it has been decided, on social policy grounds, to apply the second reduced rate of 9% to the supply and construction of apartments and apartment blocks. The legislation around VAT and property is complex. As such, I am bringing forward some further amendments to this section to ensure that the text is in line with VAT legislation and that it achieves the policy intention of the measure. It should be noted that the amendments brought forward on Committee and Report Stages do not increase the estimated cost of the measures because the changes do remain in line with the original policy intention. As data on actual sales of apartments is received, the Estimates may be revised over the coming years.”
“The temporary 9% rate of VAT on the supply of apartments came into effect on budget night, but the extension to the construction of apartments and supply and construction of apartment blocks, including student accommodation, came into effect today. The 9% rate will apply until 31 December 2030. The VAT treatment of goods and services is subject to EU VAT law, with which Irish VAT law is required to comply. In general, the EU VAT directive provides that all goods and services are liable to VAT at the standard rate, which, in Ireland is currently 23%, unless they come within provisions that permit the application of a lower rate. Under the EU VAT directive, member states may apply a reduced rate to the supply and construction of housing as part of a social policy. Ireland has currently two reduced rates – 13.5% and 9%.”
“(3) Services consisting of the development, until completed, of immovable goods to which subparagraph (2) applies.”, (ii) in Part 3, by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph 14 (amended by subsection (1)(b)(ii) ): “Housing. 14. The supply of immovable goods used or to be used for residential purposes, other than immovable goods to which paragraph 9A or 9B(2), as the case may be, applies.”,”. As I noted earlier, this section which was amended on Committee Stage provides for a temporary 9% rate of VAT in respect of the supply and construction of apartments and apartment blocks, as per our social policy.”
“I move amendment No. 31: In page 97, to delete lines 36 and 37, and in page 98, to delete lines 1 to 19 and substitute the following: “ “Supply and construction of housing as part of a social policy. 9B. (1) In this paragraph— ‘apartment block’ means a multi-storey building that comprises, or will comprise, not less than 3 apartments with grouped or common access; ‘completed’ has the same meaning as it has in section 94. (2) The supply of immovable goods, as part of a social policy, which are or, when completed, will be— (a) one or more than one apartment, used or to be used for residential purposes, in an apartment block, or (b) an apartment block, used or to be used for residential purposes, but excluding any part of the apartment block that is not used or to be used for residential purposes.”
“No matter how much they wish to reduce the budget to a conversation simply about one element of economic policy in terms of the cost of living, every measure in the budget, right across Departments, is about trying to help people in this country. Indeed, there are many measures in areas Deputies highlighted and where they asked for increased spending. They have seen today, with the publication of the national development plan and revised plans for transport. Tomorrow, in regard to childcare, which the Deputies regularly raise with me, I look forward to seeing very significant capital investment in State-led childcare funding, and more disability capital funding as well.”
“It is about the record level of funding for disability and health services, making sure we were able to increase the State pension and ensuring more people qualify for the carer's allowance. People in the Deputies' constituencies benefit from those measures.”
“The taxation of fossil fuel products was also recently examined in the tax strategy group paper, Energy, Environmental and Vehicle Tax, published by the Department of Finance in July. All budget day publications and tax strategy group papers are publicly available. Therefore, I believe there are sufficient reports available in this area and there is no need for an additional report. As my colleague, the Chief Whip, pointed out, there are lots of benefits in this budget for people and families right across the country. Deputies opposite seem to find that funny but I do not think it is funny at all; it is important.”
“Analysis undertaken using SWITCH, the ESRI's tax and benefit model, to simulate the impact of the carbon tax increase and the compensatory welfare package, estimates that the net impact of the combined measures is progressive. Half of households are better off due to the measures part-funded by additional carbon tax funds, with households in the bottom four income deciles benefiting the most. Furthermore, as part of budget 2026, my Department published the Beyond GDP - Quality of Life Assessment report. This publication complements economic and fiscal analyses with an assessment of qualify-of-life indicators. The report looks at a wider set of indicators that contribute to well-being, such as environmental, income and wealth distribution, and equality indicators and documents, to see how Ireland is performing in these areas.”
“To give effect to the programme for Government commitment to protect the vulnerable, a targeted package of social protection interventions has been developed. This was informed by ESRI research that was commissioned to address this specific issue. The allocation from within agreed expenditure allocations for 2026 is more than €1.1 billion, which is an additional €163 million on the previous budget. A total of €350 million of this is allocated to targeted social protection interventions. The Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation issues an annual publication on budget day entitled The Use of Carbon Tax Funds. This contains further detail on these allocations and includes information on the programmes funded from carbon tax revenues.”
“I assume the Deputies are requesting a report on legislated increases in the carbon tax, including a distributional impact analysis of same. As they will be aware, the programme for Government committed to continue with the planned carbon tax increases, aligning with recommendations from the Climate Change Advisory Council and scientific experts, and to use the resulting revenues raised to support climate action measures and ensure the most vulnerable benefit from those measures and are protected from unintended impacts of the tax increase. This includes funding for retrofitting but also agri-environmental schemes, alongside targeted social welfare and other initiatives to prevent fuel poverty and ensure a just transition. These measures are designed to be progressive.”
“The Deputy presumed to deliver my lines. Let me have a go at responding to him. First, as we have discussed, and I understand and acknowledge that this is how the rules of the House work, nobody is about to vote on anything other than an amendment to have a report on mineral oil tax. We need to be honest about the effect of this. No matter what way anybody votes, this is an amendment to request a report on mineral oil tax. It will not help anybody tomorrow in Cavan-Monaghan or elsewhere across the country. Mineral oil tax comprises a non-carbon and a carbon component, commonly referred to as the carbon tax. Legislation passed by this House provides for multi-annual increases to the carbon component of the mineral oil tax.”
“The advice available to me is that the proposed amendment would possibly have a negative effect on consumers. I accept that is not Deputy Doherty's intent but there is the probability of an increased cost base for the banks, which would be passed on to consumers in the form of higher fees and interest rates on loans or lower deposit rates. Therefore, our view, as per the advice available to me, is that the effect of this, albeit inadvertent, would be negative for consumers in Ireland. That is not something I want to do.”
“I say all this in full acknowledgement that this was an extraordinarily painful time in our country for which many people - in fact, almost every person in every community in the country - paid a heavy price. Deputy Gould is right to remind us of the human cost and consequences of the failures of our banks in the past. The decisions made by Governments at that time, with the Deputy referencing from 2013 onwards, were guided by the best advice available, which was given to Governments by the Department of Finance and others, in terms of how to endeavour to provide some degree of protection to the taxpayer in what was a most horrifically difficult period.”
“While other jurisdictions may have restrictions on loss relief, direct comparisons are of limited value. This is due to the tax system in Ireland being a scheduler system of taxation in which income and gains are divided into different categories based on resource. Under this system, losses carried forward can only be used against profits from the same source. In many other jurisdictions, the tax system allows losses carried forward to be used to produce taxable income from other income sources. Therefore, Ireland's loss relief system includes features that are more restrictive than in other countries, notwithstanding that we do not have a cap or a sunset clause.”
“It also considered potential effects on competition within the banking sector in Ireland, which is a factor of increasing relevance as banks have since left the Irish market. The paper also noted potential negative consequences for capital levels in the banks, with possible resulting regulatory impacts. In the case of the banks, it is also important to acknowledge that the value of these tax losses to the State has been and will continue to be realised through share sales. The banks' share prices recognise a certain value for the tax losses and, as such, the State receives value for the balance of tax losses if share sales are completed. As we all know, the State retains approximately a 57.5% shareholding in Permanent TSB. Reference was made to what other countries do.”
“In 2018, officials from my Department produced a detailed technical note for the then Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach on the subject of both bank losses and corporation tax losses more generally. The technical note considered in some detail the potential implications of restricting the use of losses carried forward or the introduction of a specific time limit on loss relief as they might apply to Irish banks, the wider banking sector or, indeed, the corporate sector as a whole. Among other considerations, it examined the possible effect of such a restriction on consumers, with the probability that an increased cost base for the banks would be passed on to consumers in the form of higher fees and interest rates on loans or lower deposit rates.”
“The information available to me, according to the most recent financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2024, is that Bank of Ireland projected it to be utilised in full by the end of 2028, Permanent TSB in approximately 12 years and AIB in less than ten years. However, it should be noted that this is tied to growth and a decrease in growth will result in the utilisation period increasing by approximately one year. That is the latest information available to me. As Deputies are aware, corporation tax relief is a long-standing feature of the Irish corporate tax system. It is a standard feature of corporation tax systems in most OECD countries. It recognises that a business cycle runs over several years and beyond and that tax income earned in one year will not allow relief for losses incurred in another.”
“It increased the risk the State might have had to put more capital into one or more of the participating institutions as a result. That was the advice available to the Government of the day. The repeal of the loss restriction shortened the timeframe over which the losses were likely to be used and greatly reduced the deduction from capital required under CRD IV. It put the institutions in a stronger position when being assessed by regulators and investors and reduced the risk of a future requirement for State support. Deputy Doherty asked a specific question about the length of time for which AIB intended to utilise the losses.”
“When the restriction was introduced in 2009, the Government had limited involvement in the banking system. However, by the introduction of the Finance Bill 2013, the State had acquired substantial shareholdings in the banking sector, specifically, 99.8% of AIB and 15% of Bank of Ireland. Furthermore, as a result of the EU's capital requirements directive, CRD, IV rules, deferred tax assets in respect of trading losses were no longer to be considered core tier 1 capital. Taking these factors into account, the restriction no longer served its original purpose and, indeed, worked against the Irish taxpayer. It created the risk that the accounting value of these tax losses could be reduced on foot of auditor recommendations, which would impact negatively on the State's equity investments.”
“The restriction on the amount of loss relief available to NAMA-participating institutions, which was introduced by the National Asset Management Agency Act 2009, as Deputy Doherty correctly recalls, limited the offset of losses carried forward to a maximum of 50% of the trading profits for each accounting period. The cap only affected the timing of the relief; it did not affect the overall quantum of relief, with restricted losses in any given year being carried forward to subsequent years. The only remaining NAMA-participating banks are Bank of Ireland and AIB. As tax losses forward are included as a deferred tax asset on a company's balance sheet, this restriction meant those assets would have stayed on the bank's balance sheets for longer.”
“Certainly, on the foot of this debate, I will send a copy of the transcript to the Ministers for Culture, Communications and Sport and Enterprise, Tourism and Employment because organisations in the State have a statutory obligation regarding employment legislation and workers' rights. I acknowledge the point about when a production is finished, the company can disappear. My understanding is that the DAC must stay in existence for at least 12 months after the end of the production. Valid issues have been raised. I do not wish to link the issue of legal and employment rights to the application of section 481 of a Finance Act, but I do not dismiss the points the Deputy has made and I will undertake to carry out the actions I have set out.”
“We have taken a number of steps in previous Finance Acts to reinforce the importance of adhering to employment rights legislation, including the Finance Act 2018, which amended the certification process to require that an undertaking for compliance with all relevant employment legislation is signed, that a skills development plan for workers on the production submitted and agreed, and the certification process provides that the Minister for culture, after considering the application applying a set of tests may issue a cultural certificate as well. A lot of this also falls down to how we ensure that rights are upheld.”
“I thank the Deputies. We have a thriving audiovisual and film sector. Deputy Ó Snodaigh made that point. It is a good thing for our country, but at the same time we also want to make sure it is working well and working well for workers and that workers' rights are always to the fore. We have seen genuine progress in stakeholders engaging with the interim guidelines and I would like a full Irish negotiated agreement. I understand why the Deputies are bringing this up, and they are quite right in bringing it up in the Finance Bill because of the application of section 481. However, the issues the Deputies are rightly highlighting relate to employment rights.”
“It is very important to recognise that the laws that underpin copyright apply regardless of whether a company applies for section 481, and they must apply equally. A company cannot choose to disapply the provisions of the copyright directive just because it is not applying for an allowance under the section 481. I acknowledge the constructive way in which this was put forward. I also acknowledge the work in this House and by Members, including Deputy Ó Snodaigh, has been very helpful in this regard but I am informed that good progress is being made and I do want an Irish negotiated agreement. We will continue to monitor this closely.”
“Deputies will be aware that there has been significant progress in the terms and conditions provided to film workers over the last number of years, including negotiated crew agreements for film and construction crew. For example, the construction crew agreement, in addition to setting pay rates, provides for the extension of coverage for pension, sick leave and other benefits to industry construction workers under the construction workers pension scheme. It also provided for the establishment of a joint monitoring structure that helps to ensure the agreement is appropriately implemented. It is appropriate for legal rights to be linked only to one set of circumstances, and I know that is not what the Deputies are hoping to achieve. We should not link legal rights only to a situation where a company avails of a tax credit.”
“Deputies may be aware, from previous discussions in the House and during Committee Stage of this Bill, and what I just outlined a moment ago, that a process is under way to address these issues. An independent facilitator was retained by Screen Ireland in 2023 to meet with a group of key stakeholders to identify and understand issues relevant to the digital Single Market directive, referred to as the copyright directive. As a result of that we have gotten to the point in relation to interim best practice industry guidelines while they pursue a path towards a collective bargaining agreement. There are clear precedents for this form of progress in the sector.”
“It is my understanding that stakeholders still continue to work proactively together and the group is working collectively on the next level of detail on the operations of the oversight committee, which will result in the implementation of these guidelines and a best practice approach to reporting. An Irish negotiated agreement, built upon the foundations already laid with the agreement of the interim set of guidelines is the best course for the sector to take. Copyright law falls within the remit of the Department of the Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. Copyright is relevant for many workers in the film sector, whether they are authors, producers, broadcasters and performers, and there are complex legal issues involved.”
“A key point for all of us to understand is there is a copyright directive on related legislation, which established overarching principles, in this case, the right to appropriate and proportional remuneration. The details of what exactly that entails, for example, the balance of remuneration between upfront daily rates and potential profit sharing post-release and differences between large and small productions need to be agreed between representative bodies in the industry with the overarching protection of the legislative proposals. In January 2025, an interim set of guidelines relating to copyright was agreed by a number of stakeholders in the sector in Ireland. This is a very welcome development and one I hope will lead to a permanent agreement in the sector.”
“I thank the Deputies Ó Snodaigh and Ó Murchú for their good wishes. I acknowledge the input of Members of this House, including those I just mentioned, on matters concerning the audiovisual sector in recent years, including through the examination at the Committee on Budgetary Oversight. My officials have directly engaged with all relevant representative bodies in the sector, including those representing crew, cast, and producers, to understand the issues affecting the audiovisual sector and to try to chart a pathway forward. The attention brought to issues in the sector by representative bodies, and by Members of this House, has contributed to real progress being achieved on many fronts.”
“I will constructively engage with him and Deputy O'Callaghan on that. Transparency and maximum information for the Oireachtas is a good thing in how we make sense of policy decisions, and each of us doing our job as well. I accept there are many different views on the VAT measure but, from our perspective, it is a measure around viability and supply. The people will judge, at the end of the term of this Government, whether it has had the desired effect or not. It is about reducing the cost of building apartments. That does have benefits for housing supply. I should say, because a lot has been said about people trying to buy homes, that we are, thankfully, this year seeing the highest number of first-time buyers in this country since 2007. We are living through a housing emergency but that statistic should not be ignored.”
“I am making the point respectfully that I sit here and hear wrongful framing and misrepresentation of my party, our manifesto and the general election. I look forward to debating that. As the leader of Fine Gael, I will debate that with the leader of Sinn Féin in due course. I look forward to that opportunity. In relation to the amendment before the House, I do not have a huge amount more to add other than to say that I agree on the need for spending reviews. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, does too. It is something I will take away from the points put forward by Deputy O'Callaghan. While some have been pining for Paschal this evening, and there has been a little bit of "Paschal said this and Paschal said that", Deputy Doherty made the point about budget books being different in the past.”
“I will endeavour to keep to the amendment at this late hour of the night. I have plenty I could l say about general election promises in other parties' manifestos and where the average price of €300,000 for a home in Dublin is, etc., which was promised by Sinn Féin. We will return to all that another day.”
“However, I am happy to engage with the Deputy on the thrust of what he is trying to get at, which is to look at the interplay between the different tax schemes and the benefit involved in terms of advancing the policy objectives. I will undertake to do that. I will also undertake to engage constructively, no doubt at the Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitisation and Taoiseach, as this issue arises in the period ahead.”
“Going forward, as data becomes available for these new schemes, it will be included in my Department's annual report on tax expenditures. In line with my Department's guidelines for tax expenditure evaluation, any expenditures that are expiring will also be subject to detailed review. These reviews are published by my Department. As the Deputy reminded us, my predecessor committed to continuing to review the interplay of different tax schemes. I, too, commit to doing that. Having regard to the fact that indicative costings have already been prepared and published for the new measures - and, as stated, these will be included in the annual report on tax expenditures going forward and as data becomes available - I do not believe that an additional report is specifically necessary at this time.”
“If they are not building today, they have decided it is not viable to build from their commercial proposition. Do we do something to make it viable or do we just not concern ourselves with that? I believe we seek to make those developments viable because we want people to have an opportunity to be able to access those homes. Where data exists in relation to the Exchequer cost of tax relief for housing market development, its is publicly available and is included in the Department of Finance report on tax expenditures published annually in advance of the budget, as well as in Revenue's publication on the cost of tax expenditures. The Finance Bill 2025 provides for the changes to the tax system announced on budget day that are intended to complement direct expenditure and capital investment in housing.”
“The guidelines on tax expenditure valuations were most recently updated in 2024. They also set out the criteria that should be considered as part of the reviews of tax expenditures as well. Targeted tax incentives to encourage people to build more apartments and increased capital investment in infrastructure to support new schemes form the main housing measures of budget 2026. The root cause of viability issues in relation to apartments is structurally high costs. Accordingly, sustainable progress on improving viability requires a relentless focus on cost reduction that maximises private sector participation. We can all have our views on the profit levels of companies and everything else, but at the end of the day, we need these companies to build apartments. That also has to be effected.”
“We do take all decisions regarding taxation measures in line with our Department's tax expenditure valuation guidelines. These guidelines do make clear that any policy proposal that involves tax expenditure should only occur in limited circumstances where there are demonstrable market failures and where a tax-based incentive is deemed more efficient than a direct expenditure intervention. I have been making this point. We know we have different political viewpoints on this but we do have a significant number of apartment developments or planning permission for apartments. In this city alone there are more than 40,000 that people who build apartments have deemed unviable to construct currently. What we are trying to do here is reduce the viability gap through a number of ways. This is just one way by which we are trying to do it.”
“In the early days of my time in this office, I agree with the Deputy's broader point on spending reviews, not monetising every problem and making sure there is value for money. I will engage with colleagues in relation to that as well. I also acknowledge, and Deputy Doherty made this point earlier, and I was not saying it to be discourteous, that the way the rules of this place work is that people request reports by way of an amendment, but often they do that to vocalise their opposition to or, the odd time, their support for a measure coming forward. I do not believe a report into this matter in the Finance Bill per se is the best way to proceed. Let me deal with the substance of the issues Deputy O'Callaghan raises and share my perspective on them.”
“As the Deputy rightly implied, as the take-up has been so low to date, the policy aim has been to increase uptake in the first instance. We will monitor it and see how it goes this year and in future finance Bills.”
“A number of other features of the scheme implicitly set an upper limit on the Exchequer cost in respect of residential premises, including that the local authority must issue a letter of certification confirming that the cost of the refurbishment seems reasonable. It is a good question as to what towns are included or not included. Many Deputies have made representations for other towns to be added, although not on the record of this House. There are always compelling cases. Considering that this is a significant expansion, what we have decided to do is to utilise the towns identified as the five regional centres in the national planning framework. This is a scheme that I would not rule out extending to further areas in the future. That is the rationale behind what we are doing. I believe there are enough safeguards built in.”
“There is a €300,000 limit placed on an undertaking, which may include a business or landlord, availing of the scheme by the state aid de minimis regulation. To facilitate greater uptake of the measure, the Bill removes the restriction on connected persons to broaden the reach of the relief. This will mean that a person connected with a developer of rented residential or commercial property within the scheme will be in a position to retain the property for the purpose of letting, but it should be noted that the state aid cap will still apply over a rolling three-year period. In addition, the relief for income taxpayers is within the scope of the high earners' restriction, and any capital allowances remaining unused at the end of the tax life of the building will be terminated.”
“The Deputy's initial analysis is somewhat right. He has the corporate memory to be able to go back to the then Minister, Michael Noonan. This scheme has not seen a very significant level of uptake. We have been trying to examine ways in which more people could benefit from this scheme, which brings properties back into use. Across the political spectrum, we all share the objective of trying to use every bit of underutilised capacity we can to provide housing. The Bill provides for substantial changes to the living cities initiative. The Deputy has noted the scale of the reform and the expansion of the scheme. These are significant changes but they are consistent with our policy intent. The changes were carefully considered and have built-in restrictions to limit the amount of relief that can be claimed.”