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

I begin with the issues raised by Deputy Pearse Doherty. He makes a fair case that we need to be able to use tax policy to respond to trends within the economy. The reason I decided a move to the level for which he advocates was not appropriate was the change I had made to stamp duty on commercial property in the last three budgets. We have moved from a rate of 2% to 7.5%, a threefold increase. If it was to move all the way up to 10% in this budget, it would be a massive increase in the space of three budgets. If one were to move all the way up to 10%, it would mean that one would not have too many options to move any further in future budgets. A move to 7.5% responds to the fact that the commercial sector is still doing very well within the economy. A move of one and a half points which I have made allows revenue to be raised which can be of help in dealing with other priorities I have in the budget, mitigating the risk of overheating and playing a role in moving human resources to other parts of the economy. Given that the rate was only 2% a number of years ago, a move all the way up to 10% would be a step too far in this budget. On the transitional issues to which the Deputy referred, he furnished me with some details. We will have a look at them and come back to him before Report Stage.

Deputy Mattie McGrath raised issues that touched on this section of the Bill. I am aware of the impact of the change in stamp duty on agricultural land transactions, but I ask the Deputy to recognise the relief we have put in place to facilitate the consolidation of land holdings to allow smaller farmers to scale up, if they so wish. The support we have in place for consanguinity and the relief available under the young trained farmers scheme are some of the measures in place for the use and taxation of agricultural land to address some of the issues raised by the Deputy.