Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Does the Minister of State agree with the general principle being suggested here, namely, that it is only prudent if one applies some kind of cost-benefit analysis to any kind of tax break or exemption that is available? To say that we have always had it is not good enough. Tax breaks cost the State an awful lot of money. As the Minister of State and other Ministers constantly say, there are choices about expenditures, whether one spends on health services or schools or whether one spends on tax expenditures. There is always a calculation to be done and that analysis should obviously include the number of jobs that are created, the level of investment and the leverage that provides. We cannot have that kind of analysis unless the basic information is available to us. In this scheme as in so many other tax schemes, we do not have that basic information. That is the gap the Minister of State needs to address.