Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Capital gains tax is paid. It is not true that introducing capital gains tax for the first five years and then exempting afterwards represents a new tax. Pension funds are exempt from pretty much everything, but property companies pay capital gains tax. This is not the same as share gains. It is not like the situation where a US investor buys shares in CRH which double in value and pays no capital gains tax here. That is true, but these are property assets. If one buys a hotel for €10 million and sells it for €20 million, one pays capital gains tax. The only real exemptions are for pension funds because they just do not pay tax. It is not the case that, in essence, capital gains tax is not charged on property assets in this country. I am pretty sure they are.