Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The last thing I will say to emphasise the point is that while I acknowledge the change in terms of the 15-year rule, that deals with the capital gains tax issue. Somebody buying a building on the main street in Letterkenny would also have to pay capital gains tax if there were gains relating to that property and would also have to pay 7.5% stamp duty. Whatever about the arguments put forward by the Minister in the past about the benefits of REITs with regard to commercial property and the property sector here, and I will not dispute that at this point, this sale is not to another REIT. This is just disposing of the assets so the difference here is that in respect of the buyer of this property, which is no longer a REIT, as a result of this Finance Bill, capital gains tax will be levied in respect of this transaction but stamp duty of 7.5% will not. The stamp duty rate will only be 1% when the 7.5% rate will have to be paid in respect of all other transactions, bar the exemptions I spoke about. That sticks in my craw.