Seán Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)

Over a three year period, people are taking substantial salaries of millions of euro so that a retirement fund, with two thirds of the salaries, index linked and with the applying extras, can be put in place to generate that much on an annuity basis at a time when interest and annuity rates are very low.

I would like the Minister to consider putting an upper limit on the level of income that can be used as a basis for calculating pension contributions for tax relief purposes. I have no problem with people setting up approved retirement funds, but the general public should not subsidise the build-up of them to the extent that is being done at the moment. There is room to do something about it.

The Minister should also consider introducing a claw-back in respect of pension contributions for tax purposes when the value of the fund exceeds the actuarially calculated amount that would be needed to fund a pension of a reasonably generous level of income, together with the two thirds level and all the bells and whistles that are attached to that as well. That should be examined.

We need to encourage philanthropy. The Americans are very good at setting up foundations for this and that. It is time wealthy people were encouraged to put their wealth to charitable use.

On the question of charities, the tsunami last year was a special case. The general public raised more than €80 million. If all of the tax that could be recouped was recouped on the basis that the donors were in the 42% tax band, more than €56 million would be recouped by the charitable organisations. I ask the Government to arrange with the relevant statistical bodies to obtain the tax profiles of a sample of the donors who made those contributions. Many elderly people who pay no tax and have very little money are among the most generous of the contributors. A stud farmer in County Tipperary made a very substantial and very generous contribution. There is no tax on his income at the moment. That should be taken into account. If the composite rate of tax paid at the marginal rate by the donors was30%, in excess of €42 million could flow back to the charitable organisations if all of the administrative problems were sorted out and the €250 limit were reduced in this case.

When the tsunami is off the front pages of the world's media and only the bereaved families of those who lost their lives are suffering their grief and their tragedy, the horrors in Africa, in Darfur, the Congo and other areas will continue. The tax rebate on the €80 million contribution made by Irish residents would assist in no small way the brilliant NGO aid organisations such as Goal, Trócaire, Concern and the Irish Red Cross. I am sure I have left some out, but I do not mean to diminish in any way the great work they do. I ask the Minister to consider empowering the Revenue, through a Committee Stage amendment, to ensure those organisations get the amount that would be payable if the appropriate forms had been filled out correctly. I also ask that the relevant threshold be reduced from €250 to zero in this special case for the three months since Christmas Day, the period when most of the money was contributed, to allow a lump sum payment to be made by Revenue to the relevant organisations to enable them to tackle the problems around the world that, because of world politics, are not at the moment being properly dealt with.

I always start at the back of the Finance Bill because that is where the most interesting parts are. I note the rate of interest on overdue taxes is reduced from 11.75% to 10%. Deputy Crawford does not believe this is low enough. However, the State is not a bank and it must ensure that the interest charged is greater than the overdraft rate of interest. That reduction is a good step forward as far as the Government is concerned and it would be unreasonable to go any lower.

In respect of the published details of certain settlements made by tax defaulters, the figure was previously £10,000 or €12,700. The Minister is changing that to €30,000. I note that the Revenue Powers Group suggested a figure of €50,000, the Law Reform Commission suggested €25,000 and that the Minister took the middle course. However, €50,000 would be a better figure because what we want is to name and shame those who blatantly flout the law and evade tax. If they are mixed in with a group of people who can reasonably state that they unfortunately did things the wrong way and were caught, the higher level should be considered.

The question of facilitating tax and duty evasion is a most important matter. There is a fear among people who work in banks and insurance companies, among tax advisers and accountants, that this is draconian. However, the Minister stated on Second Stage that this was intended to target serious offences. Serious offences can be taken in the light of what I have already mentioned regarding the published details of settlements by tax defaulters. He also said that the people prosecuted under this facilitation of tax evasion section would be deeply involved and would have facilitated tax evasion. In business, people talk anecdotally about these matters, but the real intent of this measure is to target those who facilitate tax evasion, who open the bank accounts in question or who make false statements. It is not a general trawl to get everybody who gives professional financial advice to clients.

I am delighted the question of the single premium life assurance policy is being tackled. It has been boiling away in the background since 1998 when the DIRT inquiry started. Together with other Members of the House I was privileged to be a member of that inquiry. It appears there was abuse in regard to single premium life assurance policies. Section 31 empowers the Revenue to test a sample within an insurance company to see if it was complicit in its customers' tax evasion. That would be used to bring a High Court case to ensure that an insurance company where a single premium insurance policy was involved would be made to account for the figures relating to every single account in the company.

I am delighted by the reduction in stamp duty for first-time buyers of second-hand houses. In the area I represent — mainly Crumlin, Drimnagh, Walkinstown, Ballyfermot, Inchicore, Kilmainham — there are many houses at around €250,000 to €300,000. Young people are needed in these areas to start families and rejuvenate all of those areas. This is a great opportunity to regenerate the inner city area. I am delighted this is in the Bill.

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