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

I move amendment No. 73:

In page 62, line 7, to delete “by an individual”.

This is very much linked to the debate we have just had on property. I was struck by a recent article in The Sunday Business Post by entrepreneur Brian Caulfield. He compared the incentives being put in place for property and entrepreneurial activity. He said we make "no distinction between the risky, hard-won, job-creating gains of entrepreneurial activity and gains from non-productive speculation on land". He critiques what is being proposed on capital gains tax, CGT, entrepreneurial relief. It is welcome and is a step in the right direction but he points out that to benefit, one must first make a capital gain, not before 2010, pay the CGT in full and reinvest the proceeds in another venture which may be risky. If one is lucky and that venture gets to a successful exit, the best-case scenario is that one's overall effective CGT rate across the two investments drops to 22%. Meanwhile somebody who buys property and holds on to it for seven years pays no CGT. That is a valid point which is wroth debating. Since 2008, the UK offers a 10% CGT rate on gains from entrepreneurial activity. Amendments Nos. 73 to 75, inclusive, are designed to amend the CGT relief for reinvestment in certain businesses which would, for example, allow angel investors to qualify and remove the need to roll over the initial investment to get relief from CGT.