I am not sure what the Senator is doing. She quoted a figure of €400 million but that is not the value of the diesel rebate scheme. That scheme is worth €20 million. The €400 million figure is the cost of equalising the tax on diesel and petrol. If that is what the Senator is supporting, I am sure she will inform the House. If it is, I candidly say to her that it is difficult enough at the moment to win the argument for carbon taxation without overlaying that on top of it. If there is a time for making that move, i…

I am clear that the cost of equalisation is €400 million for the equalisation of tax on diesel and petrol.

No. I will conclude on the following point. I can see the value of the thrust of what the Senator is referring to. We need to look at how we can phase out fossil fuel subsidies over time and where we can. The Senator made a point about a roadmap for how we would consider whether we can do it and how we would do it. Under the climate action plan, the deadline for the production of that roadmap is the first quarter of 2024.

We are committed to reviewing that rebate scheme. I have to do it each year as part of the normal tax decisions we make in the budget. Perhaps the record of what I said earlier will have to be corrected but I think what I said to the Senator was that it sounded to me like she was proposing the immediate or gradual removal of the lower level of tax on diesel versus petrol. I think I said both. That was what I heard. I head the Senator say that, and she has repeated it.

That is fine. I wanted to draw that out because it is important to note that the larger figures the Senator was using do not refer to the rebate scheme. That was my core point. As I said, I genuinely welcome the fact that the Senator is, on balance, willing to support the changes we are making on carbon taxation. I know she has reservations. She is balanced, and I welcome that. She is a rare voice at the moment in the opposition view on climate change. Many parties in opposition are, on the one hand, saying we have…

The Senator does a disservice to the desperate needs of those in the housing market when he brings forward simplistic arguments, which may be initially appealing but which will lead to a reduction in the number of homes being built in our country.

It is a report. However, the Senator concluded his argument with a statement regarding my attitude and my views on the housing market. In such circumstances, I am equally entitled to make a point about his. I understand how appealing his arguments are, and I understand why the argument regarding REITs and IREFs is attractive to those who are facing difficulties at the moment. The reason I support the taxation structure that is in place is because, ultimately, I believe it will lead to the building of more homes. It…

Senators may recall that in 2018 my Department produced a detailed technical note for the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach on the subject of both bank losses and corporation tax losses more generally. This technical note was published online and is still available. 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 or sunset clause on loss relief, for Irish bank…

I have to respond to some of the arguments that have been made by Senator Higgins. She asked about how the State can benefit from the upside. We are majority shareholders in AIB, we nearly entirely own Permanent TSB, and we are minority shareholders in Bank of Ireland, albeit that is decreasing quickly. That is how we participate in the upside. The Senator wants to know how we can benefit from any enhanced profitability those banks can make in the future. We are majority shareholders in two of the three banks so th…

I am used to this. It is just a typical Sinn Féin response. When its representatives are confronted with the truth of their own actions, they have no option but to deny it. Let me repeat it again -----

I am glad that the Senator did not deny it.

Let me repeat again, this budget contained a measure that through the use of taxpayers' money, would allow more rental accommodation to be brought online for the benefit of tenants, that is, tenants who the Senator claims to champion.

Sinn Féin is here as a party saying it wants more rental accommodation to be made available but as the Senator's own half-hearted heckling demonstrates, he uses "landlord" as a term of abuse. There are not many landlords who will be listening to Sinn Féin and its tone about the rental sector who will be eager to provide more rental accommodation for the tenants that Sinn Féin claims to represent.

That word, "leverage", says it all. That is the concept that says a lot about the Senator's view of private banking. Particularly as a majority shareholder and as a Government, you have to understand the commercial independence of banks. There is a role for privately owned banks. I want our banking sector to be owned more by the private sector in the future. The Senator is familiar with company law and the independence of boards. Is she implying that a shareholder, particularly a Government, would use the sharehold…

I am aware of the Senator's Private Members' Bill, the Worker Co-operatives and Right to Buy Bill 2021, and his interest in this matter. I note that it included a proposed new section 597AB for insertion in the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 to allow for relief from capital gains tax on the sale of a business to a workers' co-operative. I understand the Bill proceeded to Second Stage in the Seanad on 28 June. The Senator is aware that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is close to finalising a general…

As I informed the Deputy on Committee Stage of the Bill, wealth can be taxed in a variety of ways, some of which are already levied in Ireland. Capital gains tax and capital acquisitions tax are, in effect, taxes on wealth in that they are paid by an individual or company on the disposal or acquisition of an asset through gift or inheritance. Deposit interest retention tax, DIRT, is charged at 33%, with limited exemptions, on interest earned on deposit accounts. Local property tax is a tax based on the market value…

The Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides a 32% payable relief for eligible expenditure on film production in Ireland. The scheme is intended to act as a stimulus to the creation of an indigenous film industry in the State, creating quality employment opportunities and supporting the expression of Irish culture. The audiovisual sector has largely continued to function through the most challenging period of the disease and to provide quality employment at a time when so many other elements of the culture sector have…

I will continue to monitor this industry and look at the implementation of this relief. I am not going to comment on the individual case the Deputy has referred to because it is not appropriate for me to do so in the Dáil. As the Deputy and I discussed on Committee Stage, we got to an important point in August 2020 when the Workplace Relations Commission reported on the outcome of evaluation work it had done within the sector. It made four recommendations, namely, the maintenance of good industrial relations; the p…

Look at how much time Deputy Boyd Barrett and I spend together.

The tax credit for digital games is a cultural relief. Therefore, in order to avail of the credit, a digital game development company must first apply to the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media for a cultural certificate. As part of the certification process, the company will be required to complete an undertaking in respect of quality employment to qualify for the relief. This undertaking is similar to the requirement in place under the section 481 film tax credit. The undertaking commi…