Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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It is different. I may be on a salary and when I move abroad, I get paid a cost of living allowance because it is more expensive to live in that place. The local post allowance compensates me. If I do not own a property and I cancel my lease, having had my salary adjusted for cost of living expenses and a local post allowance, would rent be paid on top of that, although there is no extra cost to me? To be pernickety about this, according to Mr. Cooney's business case, section 25 of the Finance Act 2005 includes a provision for the tax treatment of foreign services allowances. The measure provides that the Minister for Finance, in agreement with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade or another relevant Minister, may certify as exempt from taxation certain allowances which provide compensation to officers of the State for the extra costs arising in being obliged to live outside the State and performing the duties of employment. That is my point. If Mr. Cooney wishes to revert with a note detailing legal advice or correspondence with the Department of Finance, that is fair enough.