Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy is being a little unfair in neglecting to mention the benefits delivered by tax reliefs, as outlined in the Indecon report. It emerged from the report that many of the reliefs could be phased out because the economic objectives for which they had been introduced had been broadly achieved. Considerable benefit accrued from many schemes, including in the area of urban renewal and regeneration, and there are many excellent examples of incentivised investment delivering real community benefit in addition to personal benefit to those who availed of the schemes. For this reason, I do not take as negative a view as Deputy Boyle.

The consultants also left open the possibility of introducing further tax relief schemes in future. They did not rule out new schemes but stated they should be assessed. The Department has done this and the most recent scheme, announced in the Finance Bill, includes characteristics in line with what was recommended. The consultants may regard the proposal as having limited potential because it is not in a traditional tourism area. This is precisely the reason some incentivised investment might help. The approach envisaged, under which a certification body will be brought in and a quality assurance mechanism will determine eligibility under the scheme before construction of any facilities, is sensible and one I am willing to adopt.

The Department is learning. It does not propose to give open-ended approval or take a non-time limited approach. We have taken on board some of the ideas Indecon stated should be part of any future tax relief schemes. As I indicated, it is possible that economic objectives in specific areas of activity may be more rapidly or best achieved by some degree of incentivisation. One can assess the measures subsequently. Having a certification body will assist the Department in making precise assessments of the projects which receive approval and the expenditure involved.

See this speech in context