Ms Deirdre Donaghy:

They are still considered expenditures because they are departures from the norm that are relevant to a small number of people, which is part of the definition of a tax expenditure. If we took something, for example, like the blind person's tax credit, it is an extremely targeted measure aimed at helping a particular cohort of people. It is therefore clearly an expenditure. It is considered every year as part of the annual budget process. All personal tax credits are considered in that context. It is unlikely that we will see a cost-benefit analysis of the blind person's tax credit, though, because it is hard to see anyone proposing the removal of something of this nature.