Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for his response. There are two things I would mention. I know we are coming to section 8, which I agree with. I have no issues with section 7 either, for the record. Under section 8 things like the voucher scheme will be a reportable benefit. That was €500 and has now gone up to €1,000. This is up to €3,000. There is no reason this would not also be reportable. If we want to capture this within section 8 I presume we would have to change section 8 at a future date. This is important given the increasing value of the scheme, which is now €3,000, but also because this type of section is about impacting on behavioural change.

If we had these reportable benefits, it would be really important for us as policymakers to figure out how the scheme worked, whether it was bicycles, e-bikes or cargo bikes, and what the impacts were. I encourage the Minister to look at that for Report Stage. The rules are the rules. If someone buys an e-bike costing €1,500 and then decides to move employment, he or she has to pay the employer back for the e-bike. With a cargo bike, it becomes more expensive. That in itself is not a good issue for the economy in terms of people being able to move from one job to another. Someone in moderately paid employment moving from one job to another who may be only a couple of months into the scheme might have to pay €2,000 up-front in order to move. It is not a good issue. If someone is laid off, as far as I know, they also have to make the payment. I know it is not straightforward because the employer purchases the bike on behalf of the employee. However, given where we are with employment and people moving from one industry or employment to another, it is important as the scheme becomes more frequently used that people be able to carry the benefits to an employer or the employer carries those benefits or is able to transfer them. In the digital era there is a way of doing this. I am not suggesting it be done now but that it be looked at for next year. It is an issue now in terms of having to settle a bill with an employer before someone takes up new employment.