Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Flannery and all his colleagues here today and thank him for his presentation. In respect of the scale of the not-for-profit sector and charities in general, I had not fully grasped that over 100,000 people are employed in the wider not-for-profit sector. I guess that would include many service providers like Rehab, COPE and the Brothers of Charity. Nonetheless, it is a very impressive figure. From looking at the forum's report, one can see that the annual philanthropy figure is about €500 million, which is not something I would have been fully appreciated. Not only do we have a patent cliff, we are facing a philanthropy cliff, which presents a very significant challenge to the country. I thank all members of the delegation for the work they are doing in their respective organisations for the country which continues to be hugely positive. They have been filling a deficit where the State has been unable to provide funding, services or opportunities for different programmes that undoubtedly merit it.

The proposal before us on the invest in Irish job scheme is very interesting and in principle seems to be quite a good idea, the major benefit being it is entirely additional money, which is the key point made by Mr. Flannery. There is no element of displacement or shifting money from one fund to another. The bottom line is the question Mr. Flannery asked, as to whether it would work, and nobody can be sure until it is given a go.

Does Mr. Flannery have any sense of the scale of the potential pool which can be tapped into, of Irish citizens who for their own reasons have remained outside the Irish tax net for the past five years? What level of research has been done to determine whether this would be a viable and attractive option for people who wish to make a contribution to the country? I assume Mr. Flannery has received taxation advice from practitioners on the issue and that it is doable with regard to double taxation agreements. I am sure this would require a change through the finance Bill and I assume his aspiration is to have it in place for the next budget and finance Bill. Does such a scheme operate successfully anywhere else? Is it is taken from a similar model where it has been proven to work? This is an important question.

Mr. Flannery referred to investment in a business or in philanthropic activities which the Government may designate or the donor may choose. How will this work in practice? Who will decide where the money goes? Who will administer it? Will it be administered centrally or will the person making the investment have a choice and final say as to whether it goes to a business, a company or a particular charitable purpose?

Why is it limited to Irish citizens only? I can understand it is the obvious place to start, and perhaps the proposal is to start with citizens, but other people may, through lineage or other reasons, have a connection with Ireland and may wish to participate in the scheme such as this. Could this be considered?

I take it this is restricted to individuals and not available to corporate bodies which would be non-tax resident in Ireland.