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

I can give the committee a short note on all of them.

Amendment No. 6 is a straightforward amendment which clarifies that a contractor does not have to be within the Revenue contracts tax regime in order to carry out works under the incentive. It also clarifies a contractor's obligations in terms of qualifying under the incentive.

Amendment No. 8 is simply to improve the readability of section 2 and to clarify the transitional arrangements which apply in the period to the end of this year and also for the early part of 2016. Amendment No. 11 is purely a technical amendment.

Amendment No. 12 is in response to concerns which were raised on Second Stage about the entry point to the incentive. Accordingly, I am happy to say that I have decided to reduce the minimum threshold, from €5,675 inclusive of VAT to €5,000 inclusive of VAT. This means that a homeowner incurring the minimum expenditure of €5,000 will be entitled to relief of €595. The maximum relief remains €4,050.

Amendment No. 16 is a straightforward amendment. Rather than the contractor having to provide to Revenue the name of the liable person for LPT purposes for the qualifying residence, the contract will simply have to provide the name of the claimant.

Amendments Nos. 17, 18, 20 and 21 are to reflect minor drafting points.

Amendment No. 22 is a useful amendment which provides that a contractor must inform Revenue of the name of the individual who paid for the work carried out. This will ensure that only those entitled to the relief will be in a position to claim it.

Amendment No. 23 is a purely technical amendment arising from inclusion of a new subparagraph (v). Amendment No. 25 is to reflect a minor drafting matter.

Amendment No. 26 is an important amendment which ensures that the receipt of a grant, insurance or compensation payment is not taken into account in determining eligibility for the incentive. Such payments will only be taken into account in determining the amount of relief to which an individual is entitled.

Amendment No. 27 concerns LPT obligations. This amendment extends the obligations such that a claimant will only be entitled to claim relief if his or her LPT obligations are up to date, not only in respect of the qualifying residence for which relief is being claimed but also in respect of any other residential property for which the claimant is a liable person within the meaning of the LPT legislation.

Amendment No. 28 is a technical amendment. The subsection, as drafted, only refers to reliefs under the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. However, reliefs under the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 should also be included.

I commend the amendments to the House.