John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

I wholeheartedly agree with Deputy Gogarty in his assessment of the situation. My understanding is that the Minister for Finance initiated a review of tax reliefs which would include the artists' exemption scheme.

It should be recalled that the exemption is for works that are creative and artistic and that they must have cultural and-or artistic merit. These hurdles must be cleared before the work concerned qualifies for the exemption in the first instance.

The vast majority of people in the arts community earn very low salaries and in many cases their income is quite sporadic. As I said earlier, on either side of a good year they can have very bad years. The argument is made that the exemption should be capped at a certain level because 2 per cent of those involved seem to get 58 per cent of the benefit. However, this must be understood in the context that much of the income derived by those at the top of the scale comes from foreign sources. The argument can be very cogently put that these are funds which would not arrive in Ireland if the exemption was not there. One can also argue, as Deputy Gogarty has done, that the people concerned assist in giving the country a very high profile and it is difficult to quantify the benefit for the overall economy in that context.

The exemption sends out a very positive image of the arts in Ireland, of artists working in Ireland. Its introduction was imaginative and innovative. It portrays the country internationally as one which nurtures the arts. Since its introduction it has provided a positive image for Ireland. Tinkering with the scheme will achieve very little in the final analysis. I do not believe in implementing ideas solely on the basis of a principle. There must be a pragmatic, tangible return if one is to become a legislator for principle, and in this instance I do not see the return.

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