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

Section 832A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides limited relied from income tax for individuals who travel in order to expand the export of Irish goods and services into non-traditional markets. This section of the Bill amends section 823A of the Act to provide for changes announced in the budget. The changes are that the section is extended such that it will continue to apply for the tax years 2018, 2019 and 2020. The list of qualifying countries is expanded to include the Republic of Colombia and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 2017 onwards, and that the minimum number of days required to be spent in the qualifying countries is reduced from 40 days to 30 days.

The kind of fear that is frequently expressed about Brexit is that it will reduce the capacity for Irish companies to export to the United Kingdom. The advice generally given is that the exporters should seek new markets and get into other markets to compensate for loss of market share in the UK, if it occurs. This scheme was originally introduced to give a tax benefit to the person, very often the sole representative of a company, who is trying to develop new markets, frequently in Third World countries. That is the reasoning behind it. The reason for extending it this year is - as in the previous section - that it is extant as is until the end of 2017 but we are giving advance notice to companies that it is our intention to extend it to the 2018, 2019 and 2020 tax years. There had been some representation from the parent Department, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation that it should be extended to the Republic of Colombia and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. I am not too sure how fruitful these markets are for Ireland but it is another expansion to the list of countries that would be eligible. Colombia has strong export potential for Ireland in telecommunications, financial services and digital technology. Enterprise Ireland has a small number of clients whom it believes have the capacity to develop this market. Exports to Colombia have doubled between 2011 and 2015. Similarly, Pakistan has been identified by Enterprise Ireland as being a strong export target for education services. Irish exports to Pakistan grew by 26% in 2015 and have almost quadrupled since 2011, although this is calculated against a relatively low base. As I have said, I do not claim any expertise in this area. We get submissions in advance of budgets and Finance Bills from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, and frequently it is transmitting to us the advice of the agencies; this particular advice is coming from Enterprise Ireland in order to further develop alternative markets for Irish goods and services.