Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Two of my amendments to this section were ruled out of order, the first of which relates to the reduction from 12 months to six months in respect of the period for which the relevant employee must have been an employee of the relevant employer prior to his or her coming to this State. I am interested to hear the reason for this.

Section 13(c)(c) provides that an individual must perform the duties referred to in paragraph (b) for a minimum period of 12 consecutive months from the date he or she first performs those duties in the State. It is clear then that for an individual to avail of SARP, he or she must have been an employee of the company for 12 months. Section 13(2B)(c)(i) refers to the first year of employment of the relevant employee. This means that if the first year in which the employee is entitled to the relief is not a full tax year, then relief can be apportioned. How can we put in place a provision of 12 months in respect of entitlement to relief and then allow for apportionment, and how can we ensure that in allowing for apportionment the employee will fulfil the 12 months requirement under section 13(c)(c)?