Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The tax exemption is fully tied into employment and directly proportionate to the number of employees in the new start-up company. The ability to carry it forward is also linked to employment in the later years. It would seem unfair to disadvantage companies that must persist for longer to become profitable as well as being employment creating. If one includes the connection to employment creation, the provision gets over the difficulty Deputy Pearse Doherty has identified.