Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Will the Minister undertake, in regard to the consultation, to publish all the documentation because a critical issue in respect of many of these schemes, as initiated by his predecessor, is that a cost benefit analysis was not done? In the Finance Act of two years ago, the generous tax breaks available for private hospitals were initiated by a letter from a general practitioner in the former Minister for Finance's constituency, and last year there was a significant expansion of the tax breaks for existing hotel refurbishment on the basis of a short, one-page letter from the Irish Hotels Federation. If we are to make intelligent decisions on what is a difficult area, the principle of incentivising behaviour through tax breaks is not of itself wrong but this is a hidden world which is only available to the few. Will the Minister undertake to publish all the documentation, information and representations made? Does he propose that the consultative process may include public hearings?

Regarding some of the recent tax breaks initiated by his predecessor in the Finance Bill of two years ago in regard to private hospital development and nursing homes, must the development of private hospitals tie in with the Government's health sector policy? The Hanly report stated that a 300 or 400 bed local hospital is not viable yet in the tax breaks for private hospitals, and no dimensions of viability are indicated in respect of bed numbers À la the Hanly report, which is Government policy.

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