Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Well, my belief was that - and I articulated it on several occasions - that the planning system was the problem that was at fault there, not the capital gains tax regime ... that our planning system had simply ... was not fit for purpose and we were encouraging a structure, as you say, of people going to more and more remote areas, getting land rezoned, putting people on impossible treadmills ... that we didn't have a proper planning system and it was part of our wider critique of ... of, if you like, strategic planning that stretched to the way public spending was managed, the way tax expenditures were scrutinised, the way public service was reformed. You know, we needed to have more effective sectoral policies and planning was one of the areas ... we particularly needed reforms. But as far as the tax regime, we supported a 20% tax regime as reasonable, on capital gains. If you set up a business and it is successful at ... you know, it's reasonable to expect that such an entrepreneur from a genuine business would get a ... you know, would get the rewards of his success and that's ... that's what a capital gains tax is about.