I thank Deputies Mairéad Farrell, Nash, Bruton, Gould, Shortall, Richmond, Buckley, Boyd Barrett, Ó Murchú, Tóibín, Mattie McGrath, O'Donoghue and Pringle for their contributions, all of which I listened to and noted. The contributions of the Opposition Deputies caused me to reflect on where we stand now regarding the challenges we face and how we have equipped ourselves to be ready for them. Opposition Deputies and my Government colleagues focused on the challenges we are currently dealing with, namely, the prospe…

That is what Deputy Gould said. He said that the Sinn Féin policy was that it disagreed with the rainy day fund being set up and is glad that a deposit is not being made in it at the moment. That is the Sinn Féin stance on the matter.

That is a perfectly legitimate political point of view. Of course it is and I am not disregarding it as a point of view. However, it is reflective of the fact that in response to budget after budget and during the general election campaign, Sinn Féin stated clearly that it disagrees with the policy I was pursuing to balance our books and have a surplus. It is precisely the approach that we have taken in recent years that has now been of great help to Ireland as we have needed to borrow billions of euro quickly. The…

I will deal first with the amendment from Deputy Boyd Barrett. He is genuinely raising an issue concerning groups of workers severely affected by the impact of Covid-19 and who are finding it desperately hard to rebuild their incomes and to imagine getting their jobs back. This CRSS is broad in that it is available to all parts of our economy which meet two criteria. The first is that businesses must have premises and the second is that the premises are closed or have a very low level of trading due to the guidance…

The reason we made the changes in the PUP was exactly in recognition of the points that were made by Deputy Boyd Barrett. We brought in a scheme to support businesses that are shut or businesses that have an incredibly low level of trading because of public health guidance. However, the overwhelming majority of businesses that are on this scheme are completely shut. We have many different schemes available to try to support those who cannot be helped by this scheme. The Department of Transport and the Department of…

I move amendment No. 61: In page 33, to delete lines 26 to 28 and substitute the following: "(2) This section shall come into operation on such day as the Minister for Finance may appoint by order.". This is a technical amendment relating to the commencement provision in section 13, which allows the Minister, by order, to appoint when the section will come into effect.

I apologise for interrupting but I wish to point out that amendment No. 62 does not relate to the carbon tax provision. It concerns a related policy measure to do with the taxation of vehicles. For the benefit of Deputies, the amendments relating to the carbon tax come later.

I will not accept the amendment before the House, which has not been touched on in the debate. I am sure we will get to the issues raised on the carbon tax later in the afternoon. I want to inform Deputies that the amendment is on a different matter. We need to put it in context. The change in carbon tax to which we are referring is equivalent to an additional €1.50 on, for example, a 60 l tank of diesel. That is the sum change involved in it. I appreciate that for many people, that €1.50 and the carry through into…

I move amendment No. 63: In page 41, to delete lines 22 and 23 and substitute the following: "(3) This section shall come into operation on such day as the Minister for Finance may appoint by order.". To respond to the question Deputy Naughten raised with me earlier, the bands to which he referred are now published in section 32 of the Bill. The information is contained there. Amendment No. 63 relates to the commencement of section 15 of the Bill. Section 15 updates Part 35A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 to p…

It was raised on Committee Stage that this might be subject to a further amendment from me. I have made many changes in regard to transfer pricing in previous Finance Bills that I have brought in. What has happened here is that, since the Finance Bill was published and I indicated this change, I have received contact through the Revenue Commissioners from a number of Irish companies which expressed concern that this could have an effect on very legitimate structures they have within their companies. I am very happy…

I take the Deputy’s point. I am making an offer to the Deputy in good faith, which he can take up, that when I am clearer on whether there are genuine issues that could affect employment or the registration of companies in our country and how they are structured, I will share that with him. If there is an opportunity to make changes on this matter before it goes to the Seanad, that is something I will look at. The experience I have of transfer pricing shows me how deeply complicated it is. I became aware, just as I…

I move amendment No. 64: In page 42, to delete lines 24 to 26 and substitute the following: “(2) Subsection (1) , other than paragraph (a) , shall come into operation on such day as the Minister for Finance may appoint by order.”. This amendment is in regard to the commencement provision in section 16(2), which allows the Minister, by order, to appoint when the section comes into effect.

I move amendment No. 65: In page 42, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following: “Acceleration of wear and tear allowances for farm safety equipment 17. (1) The Principal Act is amended— (a) in Chapter 2 of Part 9, by inserting the following section after section 285C: “Acceleration of wear and tear allowances for farm safety equipment 285D. (1) In this section— ‘eligible person’ means a person carrying on farming, the profits or gains of which are chargeable to tax in accordance with section 655; ‘farming’ h…

I want to address some of the tax elements of this amendment. I was very pleased to work with the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, to bring forward this amendment. I want to emphasise two points on it. First, this is as much a preventative measure as it is about trying to support those who have already suffered great disability due to terrible accidents on farms. We worked closely with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to try to come up with an amendment that would be able to do both. Second, the …

I was not lecturing the Deputy yesterday. We were engaged in a debate. Each of us was making political points on an important section of the Finance Bill. It was not a lecture. With regard to the amendment, the costs of assets used to generate taxable trading profits are recognised as legitimate business expenses. While these costs are not fully tax-deductible in the year they are incurred, tax relief is available through capital allowances that spread the cost of the asset over a number of years. This gives a fair…

I acknowledge the work the Deputy has done on this matter, which he has raised in our debates on several Finance Bills. As he acknowledged, I made changes on foot of that. We debated this issue on Committee Stage. I will not repeat the arguments because the Deputy knows what they are and he knows that I take this matter seriously. As I indicated to him in the previous debate, it is my view that the conditions must be met, not just by a producer company, but by the DAC formed for the production of a film. If a produ…

The Deputy has shared new information with me and I will look at that. I can remember the exact debate he and I had on this a couple of years ago when I said this tax credit is predicated on quality employment being made available. He asked me in the Dáil Chamber what would happen with the tax credit if that quality employment was not available. I said at that point we would have to review how the tax credit is being made available and what the consequences would be for the company in receipt of it. That is what we…

I propose to take amendments Nos. 69 and 70 together. The trading profits of companies in Ireland are generally taxed at the standard corporation tax rate of 12.5%. Some of the main features of the current corporation tax regime are its simplicity and the fact it applies to a broad base. Our growth-friendly tax system has contributed to improvements in living standards for all citizens and is consistent with the OECD's recommendations for how best to support economic growth. Deputies will be aware that a range of a…

Deputy Barry is correct that there is a change of circumstances with what is happening with the United Kingdom leaving the European Union. I make two points on the Deputy's analysis. The first is that, with the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, it does not change the fact that other countries are still eager to maximise the amount of international jobs and investment they could have. Indeed, the United Kingdom may make decisions in the future regarding what is the rate of corporate tax that it wants to cha…

Let us begin with the science. I have listened to Sinn Féin quote the ESRI at length in other debates, so let us quote the report that Deputy Carthy, in his contribution earlier, said did not exist. I quote directly from the early pages of it: Moreover, a carbon tax is the most efficient way of incentivising carbon abatement; that is, of achieving a given reduction in carbon emissions at the lowest economic cost, with a large literature finding that such taxes would reduce emissions in Ireland with little wider eco…