Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

One of the key areas of difference between the Republic and Northern Ireland is the degree to which it is possible to gain some of the research and development tax credit up front. That could be one of the matters to which the Deputy is referring. I understand that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs is beginning to review the nature in which some of its credits are available up front, because it wants to ensure that credit is being drawn down against activity that meets the definition of the activity the credit is for. I am happy to look at the roll-out of this. We have made other changes over time, especially to the KEEP scheme, which we brought in with the explicit objective of trying to benefit smaller companies. It has turned out that the drawdown has been some way short of what we expected. We will monitor this over the next year and if there are any lessons in respect of how it is being drawn down on which we need to act. I am sure that I, or the Minister for Finance of the day, will do so. The issue of how we can ensure that more of our smaller companies are engaged in higher-value research and development activity will be a significant area of focus. We will have to keep the roll-out of this change under review. If further changes are needed, I am sure they can be examined.