John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We need to remember the existing schemes already available to people to participate. We need to be careful that we do not attempt to put too many barriers in the way of people regarding the knowledge development box. When we look into it in depth over a period of time, it may well appear to have some faults regarding tax.

I understand the issue in regard to tax and whether it can be used by people to set up bogus companies or otherwise. Section 7 sets out the qualifying criteria and financial limits for companies that can apply under the KDB certification scheme and establishes the information requirements for applications under the scheme. Having read the legislation, I am conscious that there may be difficulties but we should consider the overall benefits offered by the scheme. The benefits far outweigh some of the difficulties we may experience down the road when people start to work within the scheme.