John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No, that makes perfect sense. The figure is based on total stock, which will obviously be different for each local authority. That makes perfect sense. That is gets me where I wanted to go, which is excellent.

I wish to make three other points regarding what the Minister said. They do not relate to the Department in a big way, but they are interconnected. The first point relates to solar power. The Department has done excellent work in removing barriers in the context of planning permission that will make it so much easier for people to get involved in solar energy. One of the key issues around climate change that I have raised regularly with the Cathaoirleach and others at this committee is that in order to bring more people on board, we need to make it as financially viable and as simple as possible. We are doing that with solar energy because of the work the Department is doing. However, let us move on and look at what other Departments are doing. I refer, in particular, to what the Department of Finance is doing in the context of tax structures. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, has a background in this area and might be able to help at another level. If one has agricultural land, for example, and one puts solar panels on more than 51% of it, the land loses its agricultural value. As a result, the farmer or owner would be slapped with a capital gains tax bill if the land was passed on in the future. As a result, there is no incentive for someone in the agricultural sector to put solar panels on more than 50% of his or her land. All that is required to fix would be a simple amendment in the Finance Bill. This is an example of the Government doing really great work in one Department by reducing barriers and red tape while another Department is slowing things down. That is something that Deputy O'Donnell could possibly bring back to the Department of Finance in the context of his role there. I accept that the matter does not come directly under the remit of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; I am just giving an example of a situation where one Department is breaking down barriers while other barriers remain in place.