-----in funding the kinds of activities and the approach that this Government has been clear in condemning. I have said to the House that I am aware of all of the legal debate that has taken place about the Sinn Féin Bill and the issues that have been raised. I am, of course, going to consider the issue further.

The Deputy should note at the outset that capital acquisitions tax, CAT, is a beneficiary-orientated tax that is payable by the recipient of a gift or inheritance as opposed to the person providing that gift or inheritance. The relationship between the person giving a gift or inheritance, the disponer, and the person who receives it, the beneficiary, determines the maximum amount, known as the "group threshold", below which CAT does not arise. The group A threshold is currently €400,000 and applies where the benefi…

I thank the Deputy. I am well aware of the kinds of issues he has raised. I am sure his constituents raise them with him. Times of inheritance are obviously difficult moments for families. Tax bills at times of sadness can be considerable. As I said in my earlier answer, any change to this form of taxation brings a particular, and perhaps significant, cost. That must be considered as part of our normal budgetary process. I certainly take on board what the Deputy has said. It is a matter that has been raised with me…

The Deputy might clarify when he responds the source of the figure of €8 billion, please, so that we are clear on the particular point he is making. I am advised by Revenue that in 2022 it commenced a compliance-based review of the Irish real estate fund, IREF, sector with one of its aims being to identify the reasons for the reduction in the amount of IREF withholding tax paid in 2021 relative to 2020, in each case arising from prior year taxable events. This gross payment data is published as part of Revenue’s an…

The review was a compliance review undertaken by Revenue and therefore it would not publish a document in relation to that, respecting taxpayer confidentiality. However, it has indicated, as I shared with the Deputy, the tax payments that were made by that sector to the Exchequer over recent years. For 2023, that figure stands at €31.8 million. In 2017, that figure was €8.3 million. Therefore, there has been an increase in the tax paid. We need a broader consideration of how we are going to deal with the housing ne…

Tá brón orm. I was only reading out a base figure in the interests of time. Let me be non-selective and read out all the figures for each year since 2017. Those figures are: €8.3 million, €28.2 million, €72 million, €73.8 million, €43.1 million, €37.6 million and €31.8 million, respectively. In recent years-----

-----we have seen it at that figure. This is the reason Revenue instigated the compliance intervention that it did. I have made changes. I did so by means of tax legislation in order to ensure that issues that were being raised with me by Revenue were acted upon, and that happened. As soon as further information becomes available for the sector, it will of course be shared with the Deputy and made public.

I am pleased to present the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill to the House, which has passed all Stages in the Dáil. The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission came into existence in January 2004 and the legislation that set it up allowed it to play two roles. First, it was the sanctioning authority for expenditure, for deciding on staff numbers up to the grade of principal officer and for the provision of services and related matters to the Oireachtas. Second, the system for the allocation of budge…

I thank all the Senators for the issues they raised and for their co-operation in facilitating the passage of the Bill in the way we are progressing it this afternoon. I start by addressing the issues raised in common. Several Senators raised issues relating to the terms and conditions of cleaners within the complex. It is not a matter in which I am directly involved, but I will follow up on the issues raised. I am very much aware of the importance of that work to the presentation and the atmosphere within Leinster…

This is the Appropriation Bill for 2024. It is very much a technical Bill. It is worth emphasising that before this legislation gets to the Oireachtas, all the different Estimates that constitute the very large amount of money provided for in this Bill have been debated by the relevant Oireachtas committees. All of the different provisions in relation to the availability of money have already received scrutiny at Oireachtas committee level. In relation to the Bill itself, it provides for the budgetary framework. It…

I thank Senators Davitt, McDowell and Kyne for the points they have raised. Senator Kyne re-emphasised the issues he has concerning Inland Fisheries Ireland, which he has raised persistently in Seanad Éireann. I will again ensure the issues he has raised are passed on to the Minister for agriculture because I am aware that this is an issue with which he has been concerned over many years. I am not adequately briefed this afternoon, however, to be able to give him a perspective on that report and where it stands at …

I wish all Senators good luck. I also acknowledge and thank the staff of the Oireachtas for all the work they do and for their co-operation with me and my office.

A few moments ago, I thought I had made my final contribution in this Seanad.

The Senator has proved me wrong. God knows what the afternoon could yet bring. I was involved with the Moorhead report and with the various decisions we made on councillors' expenses and recognition for the very hard work they do. I will have to come back to the Senator separately on the status of the review of councillors' pensions. I am sure the matter is being dealt with by the Department of housing and local government, which has not yet engaged with me on it. I imagine it will not be doing so in the coming day…

Hear, hear.

You have not met enough of them.

Yes.

That is all Sinn Féin has to offer.

Deputy McDonald would not have acknowledged that.

I know that. Nor is it about the Deputy’s sensitivities.