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

I will deal with each of the questions in turn. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked about the original section 10 and the change being made in the seagoing naval tax credit. I am not suggesting for a moment that this is the Government's entire response to issues relating to the retention of naval personnel, particularly naval personnel who are at sea regularly. The Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, is working with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, to see if measures can be applied to deal with retention in that part of our Defence Forces. This measure is only a contribution to that work. It is not suggested for a moment that it will be the entire policy response.

I agree with many of the points Deputy Nash made. I believe the tax regime now in place by and large gets the balance right between being equitable and providing a degree of recognition of the costs involved in working from home. If, for example, companies decide to facilitate more of their staff working from home on a more regular basis, I do not see why all the costs of that should be borne by the taxpayer. There will be cost savings for companies through how they might use office space they are renting or may be renting in the future. The State should not be the only source of incentive for encouraging or facilitating people to work from home. Many employers are in a position to address the issue of cost and incentive themselves and the State should not be taking that role but might be able to make a contribution to it, even more so in the future. That will be considered by the interdepartmental working group on remote working. I believe that on balance the supports for working from home we have through our tax code are broadly okay. Of course, we will need to reassess it in the context of what has happened in 2020. We will do that through the interdepartmental group.

Deputy Naughten asked about hot-desking and encouraging more public servants to work outside their offices. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, made a statement on this a few days ago. She spoke about planned investment to facilitate public servants in working in hot-desk centres outside their original location. I think I have got the phrase "hot hub" wrong, but members know that we are talking about the remote working desks here. I apologise for not being precise with my language there. I am sure the work the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was doing will feed into the report on remote working. I understand that work is nearly finished, and we are anticipating the completion of that work by the end of this year. My officials have seen an advanced draft of that report. Deputy Naughten and I have discussed this previously. I think we will move to a hybrid model. I do not believe where we are now will prevail into the future.

I do not believe we will be in an environment, health and vaccine permitting, where the vast majority of people will be working from home most of the time. I do not believe that is a good equilibrium but we have also learned that, in addition to the previous way we had of working where almost all office work had to be done in the office, there are alternative ways. If we take the way we are conducting this committee, if anybody had suggested a year ago that we would not all be physically present in the committee room for scrutiny of the Finance Bill, it would have seemed highly unlikely. We are making it work, however, which is a sign of what is to come. We are working towards a hybrid model which will, I believe, have many benefits. I say again that I have a concern, particularly for younger workers beginning their career and particularly in larger companies. They are never in the office at this time, which a matter of concern to me from a well-being and skill development point of view. I hope that begins to change next year.

I touched on Deputy Canney's point in responding to Deputy Naughten. As I said, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, made an announcement last week about identifying a few hubs where I expect public and civil servants, regardless of the Department they work for, will be able to come together in the same space and do their work. Perhaps that is a sign of the hybrid model Deputy Naughten is talking about, one where people will at least have a degree of social contact. If colleagues from the same Department are sitting in the same part of a building or floor, it will offer at least the social and personal contact element of being in work, if not the skill development component that is important.

Deputy Doherty agreed with Deputy Farrell on her point about section 10 and I touched on that in answer to Deputy Farrell. I will address the different questions Deputy Doherty put to me. He raised the issue of cross-Border work and the loss in tax recognition that could accrue to workers who would normally travel to Northern Ireland to do their work. I am informed that the Revenue Commissioners have published a statement on their website on this in recent days and have indicated that, throughout the period of Covid, they want to put in place measures to ensure the workers the Deputy refers to are not worse off as a result of not being able to travel to their workplace. I will get the details of that statement sent on to the Deputy.

On the Deputy's question about benefit-in-kind, he is correct that if an employer pays for equipment that goes into someone's home, it is the employer who will make the claim for wear and tear to that equipment. The responsibility rests with the employer. On his question about large companies and workers not being present at the moment, a number of employers have reminded their workers about the obligations they have to be present in the jurisdiction in which they pay tax. At the moment, it is more a matter of public health than of tax policy but I am eager that next year we see a phased return to offices if that is allowed for public health reasons. I believe, particularly for large employers, that it would be advantageous for many reasons to have more of their staff present more of the time than is currently the case. Employers have issued guidance to their staff reminding them of their duties to be present in the State in which they are meant to pay tax. I have just been told that the guidance I refer to was issued in March. If the Deputy believes it is deficient or not clear in any way, I am sure he will let me know and I will follow up any matters he wants me to raise with the Revenue.