Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 22 January 2019

Committee on Budgetary Oversight

Scrutiny of Tax Expenditures: Discussion

Mr. Joe Cullen:

Yes. It is the interest on a loan to purchase and improve.

Earlier Deputy Lahart asked for the comparison of tax expenditures in Ireland with other countries. I temper expectations on the information we can provide in that regard. Because different countries use different systems with different benchmarks, it may be difficult to get a meaningful comparable figure for what countries spend on tax expenditures. I am not saying it cannot be done; it may be possible to take a selection of expenditures and compare them internationally. It may not be possible to come with an overall figure that would be meaningful. I put in that caveat at this stage, but we will do our best.