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

Supposing somebody does a €30,000 job, the tax credit available is €4,050. Standard rate taxpayers would not be paying €4,050 in one tax year, so by dividing it over the two tax years, the person will be a beneficiary.

I had a budget in very tight circumstances, where an adjustment of €3.1 billion was being made, €600 million of which was in savings and €2.5 billion of which was in expenditure cuts and tax increases. I had very little resources to stimulate the economy, so I applied it as effectively as I could to get the maximum return in the construction industry for the targeted tax credit provided.