Mr. Niall Cody:

A body can be granted tax exemption once it has a charitable purpose and the funds are applied to that charitable purpose. In the childcare sector some crèches are established under community schemes for charitable purposes and in general if they apply, they will be granted tax exemption. These bodies will be in receipt of the early childhood and care scheme for the children being cared for and this does not impact the charitable status in any way. Other crèches are established for non-charitable purposes and are actually trading entities which have been established for profit. These would not be eligible for charitable tax exemption because there is no charitable purpose and funds are not applied to any charitable purpose. These bodies too could be, and most likely are, in receipt of ECCE.

The next question that I think the Deputy was asking last week is: is the tax exemption for charities affecting businesses providing similar services?