Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to point out a couple of things to the Deputy. He has discussed sections in isolation. He mentioned a piece of land owned by a company or an investment stream and assumed that there is a gain on the purchase of a single parcel of land. The provision will work, and we anticipate it will work, as follows. If a company or an investor has a gain and reinvests it then there will not be a gain on that occasion. What the Deputy has said is correct, potentially, if one takes a single parcel of land and it is operated in isolation of the entire business that is a company or an investment stream. What he has said, in isolation, can be correct. The point is property investment companies or individuals tend not to operate purely in isolation. If they do move something, and benefit by not paying the 20% withholding tax and they have a capital gain, but they subsequently reinvest that then it is still not liable anyway.