Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 196: To ask the Minister for Finance if there has been an assessment done by him on the number of jobs that will be created by the tax break proposal in the Finance Bill 2012. [9366/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Finance Bill 2012 contains a number of measures designed to support investment, stimulate research and, ultimately, create jobs. As I said in my Second Stage speech last Tuesday, the Bill should be viewed as one element of a wider strategy to support economic activity. In relation to the Special Assignee Relief Programme and the Foreign Earnings Deduction, it is not possible to estimate the number of jobs that might be created by SARP and FED. This will ultimately be decided by a myriad of factors and not solely on the availability of the relevant tax reliefs. It is worth noting that job retention is also a valid policy objective of the Government and it is hoped that the above mentioned tax reliefs will also contribute towards the achievement of that objective.

As regards financial services, the Strategy for the International Financial Services Industry in Ireland, which was launched by the Taoiseach in July of last year, identifies a competitive and internationally respected tax framework as one of the key foundations for success and Finance Bill 2012 contains a package of measures to support this industry in meeting the ambitious strategy target of creating 10,000 jobs over the next five years. The elimination of double taxation is central to the competitiveness of the sector and is the driver for a number of the measures in this Bill. None of the measures being introduced have a significant cost element. In general, the measures are primarily focussed on removing barriers to investment.

The various changes to the R&D tax credit scheme announced in Budget 2012 and being provided for in the Finance Bill are being introduced to help make the scheme more beneficial to small and medium sized companies and to help companies generally to encourage and reward those employees directly involved in the R&D process on a cost neutral basis from the Exchequer's perspective. It is not possible to assess with any degree of certainty what the direct or indirect employment impact of these measures will be.