The point I would make is that every promise, as Senator Boyhan knows having been around electoral politics for 40 years, is all about what the result allows one to do in government-----

-----be that in county council format, the Seanad, the Dáil or the Government. A number of Senators mentioned income tax and welcomed the change in the threshold for the second time in a year and advocated for greater change. I will say that Ireland's progressive personal income tax system plays a crucial role in the process of income redistribution. Our redistributive tax system has been acknowledged by the IMF, the OECD and the ESRI. The Government is of the view that a broad-based progressive income tax system w…

I thank Senators Gavan and Warfield for this recommendation that, ultimately, we will disagree with, but we will disagree with it agreeably, if that is okay. It must be noted that Ireland has one of the most progressive personal income tax systems, which plays a crucial role in the process of income redistribution. Our redistributive tax system has been acknowledged by the IMF, the OECD and the ESRI. In respect of the particulars of this point, I am advised by Revenue that the proposal by the Senators is estimated …

In response to Senator McDowell's comments, I watched as Senator Gavan disagreed fundamentally and then disagreed warmly, which was quite an interesting concept that one gets from luxury. I can reassure the Senator that such debates in Fine Gael in Dublin South-East are still common at times, even though we now call the constituency Dublin Bay South. I take both of these very different points very seriously. I disagree with little about the first point but I think we understand that it is about how one does things …

I thank the Senators for the recommendation. There is already work under way across the Government with regard to short-term rental. The proposed short-term letting and tourism Bill that is being developed by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media will provide the statutory basis for the establishment of a register for short-term lets in Ireland and for the implementation of the new EU short-term rental regulation, which was adopted by the EU on 11 April 2024 and will come into effect f…

I will speak on this extremely important and well-meaning recommendation because it is important to provide clarification. To lay out for the purposes of the House, the purpose of the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal is to provide a review mechanism for those who have been assessed as not meeting one of the six disabled driver and disabled passenger scheme eligibility criteria by a HSE medical officer. While there were considerable issues with the board between 2021 and 2023, which a number of Senators who …

I do not want to add too much on the general research and development tax credit pieces as I would have spoken about that on Second Stage of the Bill and on my owned lived experience as a Minister of State in the Department of enterprise. I am sure Senator Higgins will join the whole House in welcoming the €80 million in additional funding for Ireland's higher level research sector that was announced just this morning by the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, and this Government. It goes to the point that the research is …

This is not just a matter of ideological difference, it is about a practical difference. First and foremost, we should recognise that there are taxes on wealth already in our economy, and indeed Sinn Féin and its sister party, People Before Profit, regularly vote against the local property tax at local authority level. That is important, for the record, if we are going to be making assumptions, as such. I am opposed to a wealth tax in the manner Senator Gavan described. I am also opposed to the report because we do…

A new enhanced credit for small- to medium-sized feature film productions is being introduced. The enhanced credit, which will form part of the long-standing section 481 film tax credit, will provide an additional 8% credit for film productions with a maximum qualifying expenditure of €20 million. This will provide for a total support of 40% for in-scope productions. I have been lucky to go through what I think is my eighth Finance Bill and my first as a Minister of State in the Department, having sat on the financ…

I appreciate the sentiment, and I mean this in all seriousness, of the recommendation. I have no major opposition to it but this is an issue of what is practical. There is no mechanism under which Ireland may request another jurisdiction to be added to the EU list. The listing process is an objective process based on agreed tax standards applied consistently to all jurisdictions within the scope of the listing process. Any jurisdiction, including Israel, could be added to the EU list or have a tax practice deemed a…

I am not going to engage on every point.

As Senator Gavan is aware, the Gambling Regulation Act is under the remit of the Minister for Justice. Therefore, I am not in a position to discuss the legislation in a Finance Bill context. However, any potential change to betting duties is kept under review as part of the tax strategy group and budgetary cycle. This is in line with how the Department of Finance develops and monitors tax policy.

A number of factors affect the final retail price of fuels, including energy market dynamics, wholesale pricing, individual retail pricing policy, transport costs, exchange rate fluctuations and taxation. It is important to note that despite the restoration of excise rates which occurred in April and August this year, as well as the carbon tax increase on 9 October, national average retail prices have generally declined over the past six months or so. While national average prices as of 6 May 2024 were approximatel…

There are two substantive recommendations here. This was raised in detail on Second Stage, particularly by Senator Higgins. I will try to be brief because the clock is against us, but both recommendations merit debate. Senators will be aware that the Government is genuinely committed to tackling climate change and decarbonising the economy by 2050 and is aware of the challenge that these subsidies pose to our collective effort to disincentivise the use of fossil fuels. The programme for Government, the climate acti…

I will ask the Minister for energy to follow up on that directly.

When we discuss comparisons between 2024 and 2021, it is important that we acknowledge what happened in that period and what caused major increases in energy prices. We have subsequently seen those increases decline. It is easy to choose a period before Russia invaded Ukraine and we saw massive inflation in the has sector, and then talk about what has happened since when those prices came back down, and the interventions by the Government through energy credits including the two that will be paid out in the coming …

I will refer to the Second Stage debate in this regard.

I will respond briefly. The banking levy was retained and the Senators are seeking a report on the rate of the levy relative to the net interest income and operating profit for all in-scope institutions since the levy was introduced. It is, therefore, important to point out that it would not be possible to produce a report as requested within that timeline. Credit institutions licensed by the Central Bank do not necessarily have to publish net interest income on a sub-consolidated basis. Prior to the amendments mad…

I am worried because that is the second time that Senator Gavan has agreed with Senator McDowell in this session.

If it happens a third time, I do not know what will happen. Perhaps Beetlejuice will appear. This Bill introduces a new section 89A to the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 to provide for a revised form of relief from capital acquisitions tax for gifts and inheritances of agricultural property. The primary policy rationale for the relief is, of course, to promote the intergenerational transfer of family farms. The relief will operate in a similar way to the existing relief by reducing for CAT purposes…