Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy O’Callaghan for his three questions. I will begin by addressing the issue of consultancy and the use of outside consultants and industry experts. The majority of the consultancy requirement in 2025 is caused by the need for Revenue to employ outside consultants for complex tax appeal cases. This is primarily concentrated in the work Revenue does with large corporate taxpayers and high-wealth taxpayers. Revenue also employs independent valuers to deal with the issue of donations of heritage items and property. Consultants will also be needed when it comes to the implementation of the automatic number plate recognition systems that are going to be implemented in Dublin Port and Rosslare Port. They are the three main drivers of the figures. In my time engaging with the Revenue Commissioners, I am always impressed with the amount of expertise they have built up in-house. I assure the Deputy that external advice or experts are only needed in rare instances and when it is in the best interest of the taxpayer. The purposes of such consultancy, which I have outlined, are quite limited and specific.

Deputy O’Callaghan raised a question with regard to the timing of the new scheme. Work is currently under way. I am happy to revert back to the committee with a timeline. Given how long this issue has gone on, and the number of different Departments involved in different ways, I really want to, in my current time as Minister for Finance, work with the Minister for Transport, Deputy O’Brien, to put in place a system that deals with all of these issues.

I am sure Deputy O'Callaghan has constituents who contact him about the scheme. The waiting list for appeals is a cause of frustration. At the same time, there are genuine policy issues relating to the scheme itself that I must consider and on which I will come back to the committee. I will come back to the Deputy with a timeline on it, so he can be informed on it.

On the point he made about the analysis of intellectual property that was highlighted by the Business Post in particular over a number of weeks, I continue to make the argument to the committee that the vast majority of intellectual property that is located in Ireland is here because there are also operations of substance located here. There are workers involved in research and development in many companies that have been here for a long time. That leads to a position where we have not only the people, but also the research and development and either services or manufacturing that has led to the location of IP because Ireland has had a stable and competitive tax regime. Anything that happens now with regard to the location of intellectual property within Ireland could have an effect on the corporate tax receipts that we collect. It is also likely that such an effect would develop over a number of years. That is why all of the work that is under way on corporate tax policy will really matter to the revenue that is likely to come to the country in the years ahead.