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

There is a middle ground. It is not as the Deputy states. The Revenue Commissioners advise us to take the middle ground. Moving the proposal to delete the settlement incentive for older tax avoidance cases is the issue. The Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Harris, made clear during the Second Stage debate that the Revenue Commissioners are challenging a significant number of cases involving tax avoidance transactions. Pursuing these cases through the courts is slow and the outcome can never be certain. If one loses it is very expensive. This is why a settlement opportunity is being put in place. At an absolute minimum any taxpayer who wishes to avail of this settlement incentive has to pay the tax due. Where interest is relevant, 80% of this has to be paid and the measure is strictly time bound.