Pearse Doherty

You have no time.

I move amendment No. 4: In page 8, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Report on supportive measures for rental property activation in areas impacted by defective concrete blocks 4.The Minister shall, within 3 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on supportive tax measures for rental property activation in areas impacted by defective con…

That is part of it.

I note the Minister said he would constructively engage, and I hear that. There is legislation coming up. He indicated he is going to oppose the amendments, which I am really disappointed with. I raised this with his predecessor and it is a sensible solution that does not cost the State any money because it is trying to release properties into the system that are not currently in it. As I said, I …

I will reiterate the point. This is the unfortunate reality. I understand that people want to make profits and all of the rest but, if you are a landlord in Donegal, you can rent to a Ukrainian family and are guaranteed the money because the State provides it. It is the equivalent of €1,200. It is different if you rent to a family whose home is affected by defective blocks. On the €15,000, that €1…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 8, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Report on rent tax credit 4. The Minister shall, within one month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the rent tax credit operating in the absence of a cap on rents, making a direct comparison between the amount of the credit and rent increases across the State for each …

Maybe I missed it, but did the Minister explain why he broke his promise to the electorate that he would increase the renter's tax credit by €100? He was going to extend it and increase it by €100. Did I miss that part or did he just avoid explaining why he broke another promise to the electorate? I will give him an opportunity to respond to that.

The Minister did not answer.

The Minister gave me a lesson on how governments are formed, which I well know.

He did not even state whether he actually asked for it. Was it the case that Fianna Fáil got its way on not increasing the renter's tax credit - the promise that the Minister broke? Did Fianna Fáil also get its way on the promise that the Government would bring a childcare plan within 100 days? Did Fianna Fáil also get its way on the promise the Minister broke - to reduce income tax for people eve…

I am.

I move amendment No. 6: In page 8, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “Report on rent tax credit 4. The Minister shall, within one month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the changing real value of the rent tax credit in relation to rent prices and the decision not to increase the rent tax credit.”.

I move amendment No. 10: In page 13, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following: “Report on relief on medical expenses 5.The Minister shall, within one month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the inability of persons without the adequate tax liability to benefit from relief on medical expenses, making reference to the substantial burden facing ind…

I thank the Minister for his response. I brought this into the Finance Bill because this is where you prompt the debate and so on. As I mentioned to his predecessor, Paschal, the intention here is for Ministers to actually start this conversation. I am not on the health committee, and there is a wider issue in terms of public expenditure. This issue really makes sense. I do not have the data for …

That is helpful. The beauty about flat rate expenses is that they are flat rate expenses. Revenue has determined the figure and you do not have to provide the receipts, although you can be called on by Revenue to provide receipts. Actually, a question I must put down is how many times Revenue has asked for the receipts from individuals. I have never been asked so far, although they are all there.

There you go. Róisín will kill me. Many people do not claim this. I would really encourage people, particularly in terms of the cost-of-living crisis, to claim for the flat rate expenses if they are on home dialysis, if they have a child with a disability or a life-limiting condition, if they are making those journeys, if they or a family member has CAPD, or if they have health expenses or other e…

No, I will withdraw it based on what the Minister has said.

I move amendment No. 11: In page 18, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following: “Amendment of Principal Act 13.The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 216F: “216G.(1) In this section— ‘qualifying residence’, means a residential premises situated in the State constructed prior to 2023 which has not been subject to a rental agreement in the th…

Tairgim leasú Uimh. 12: In page 28, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: "Report on the restriction of share-based remuneration to SMEs 19.The Minister shall, within 3 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the impact of the PRSI exemption for share-based remuneration for large corporations on the sustainability of the social insurance fu…

We have raised the issue of share-based remuneration for a number of years in terms of restricting the measure to SMEs. We have since had the reports. In the finance committee, I mentioned that we have waited for four years for the Credit Review Bill to be given a statutory footing. It was announced on 6 July by Government that Cabinet had approved putting the Credit Review Bill on a statutory foo…

As I mentioned, the Minister is new to the finance brief. However, he may or may not know that the only way for us to put down this amendment-----

-----is to seek a report and all of his predecessors would acknowledge that what is behind the amendment is a proposal to restrict the PRSI exemption to the Social Insurance Fund. If we put down an amendment that gave effect to that without seeking a report, it would be ruled out of order by the Ceann Comhairle, and that is no fault to her. They are the rules of the House. That is why it is requir…

I welcome the Tánaiste's response to this issue. In fairness to his predecessor, Paschal Donohoe acknowledged there was an issue. It was a mistake for the Government to bring forward an amendment to the Finance Bill that included Russia, as Deputies Timmins, Nash, Cian O'Callaghan and I highlighted. As the Tánaiste said, there was unanimity on this issue and it is to be welcomed that Russia is not…

I move amendment No. 17: In page 33, to delete lines 30 to 32, and substitute the following: ""(II) €10,000 for each of the years of assessment 2023 to 2028 (both years inclusive)",". These proposals apply to benefit-in-kind. There was an issue with a number of previous Finance Bills when the Government tried to do what it is doing here, which is reform the benefit-in-kind scheme. This will ul…

I understand the Government’s point that this is reverting back to the original provision in the Act. When it was tried originally, obviously, there was huge uproar at what the Government was attempting. The Minister stated that this is for environmental reasons and so on, but this applies to electric vehicles and electric, carbon-neutral vehicles as well. Will it not increase the tax liability on…