Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 24:

In page 33, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

25.—(1) The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 268—

(i) in subsection (1)—

(I) by deleting "or" where it last occurs in paragraph (k) and by substituting "centre, or" for "centre," in paragraph (l), and

(II) by inserting the following after paragraph (l):

"(m) for the purposes of a trade which consists of the operation or management of a qualifying specialist palliative care unit,",

(ii) by inserting the following after subsection (1D):

"(1E) Where the relevant interest in relation to capital expenditure incurred on the construction of a building or structure in use for the purposes specified in subsection (1)(m) is held by—

(a) a company,

(b) the trustees of a trust,

(c) an individual who is involved in the operation or management of the unit concerned either as an employee or director or in any other capacity, or

(d) a property developer (within the meaning of section 843A) or a person who is connected with the property developer, in the case where either of such persons incurred the capital expenditure on the construction of that building or structure, or such expenditure was incurred by any other person connected with the property developer,

then, notwithstanding that subsection, that building or structure shall not, as regards a claim for any allowance under this Part by any such person, be regarded as an industrial building or structure for the purposes of this Part, irrespective of whether that relevant interest is held by the person referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d), as the case may be, in a sole capacity or jointly or in partnership with another person or persons.",

(iii) by inserting the following after subsection (2B):

"(2BA) In this section—

'palliative care' means the active total care of patients who suffer from illnesses or diseases which are active, progressive and advanced in nature and which are no longer curable by means of the administration of existing or available medical treatments;

'qualifying specialist palliative care unit' means, subject to subsection (2BB), a building or structure—

(a) which is a hospital, hospice (within the meaning of section 47 (as amended by section 16 of the Public Health (Tobacco)(Amendment) Act 2004) of the Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2002) or similar facility which has palliative care as its main activity,

(b) which, before entering into a legal commitment for its design, commissioning, construction or refurbishment, is approved by the Health Service Executive, with the consent of the Minister for Health and Children, as being in accordance with national development plans or national needs assessments for palliative care facilities,

(c) which has the capacity to provide—

(i) day-patient and out-patient palliative care services, and

(ii) palliative care accommodation on an overnight basis of not less than 20 in-patient beds,

(d) in respect of which relevant data is provided to the Health Service Executive, for onward transmission to the Minister for Health and Children and the Minister for Finance, in relation to—

(i) the amount of the capital expenditure actually incurred on the construction or refurbishment of the unit,

(ii) the amount, if any, of such expenditure which has been or is to be met directly or indirectly by the State or by any other person by way of grant or other financial assistance,

(iii) the number and nature of the investors that are investing in the unit,

(iv) the amount to be invested by each investor, and

(v) the nature of the structures which are being put in place to facilitate the investment in the unit,

together with such other information as may be specified by the Minister for Finance, in consultation with the Minister for Health and Children, as being of assistance in evaluating the costs, including but not limited to exchequer costs, and the benefits arising from the operation of tax relief under this Part for qualifying specialist palliative care units,

(e) in relation to which an undertaking is given to the Health Service Executive—

(i) to make available annually, for the palliative care of persons who have been awaiting day-patient, in-patient or out-patient palliative care services as public patients, not less than 20 per cent of its capacity, subject to service requirements to be specified by the Health Service Executive in advance and to the proviso that nothing in this subparagraph shall require the Health Service Executive to take up all or any part of the capacity made available to the Health Service Executive by the unit, and

(ii) in relation to the fees to be charged in respect of the palliative care afforded to any such person, that such fees shall not be more than 90 per cent of the fees which would be charged in respect of similar palliative care afforded to a person who has private medical insurance,

and

(f) in respect of which the Health Service Executive, in consultation with the Minister for Health and Children and with the consent of the Minister for Finance, gives an annual certificate in writing during the period of—

(i) 15 years beginning with the time when the unit was first used, or

(ii) where capital expenditure on the refurbishment of the unit is incurred, 15 years beginning with the time when the unit was first used subsequent to the incurring of that expenditure,

stating that it is satisfied that the unit complies with the conditions mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (e).

(2BB) (a) Subject to paragraphs (b) and (c), a qualifying specialist palliative care unit includes any part of the unit which consists of rooms used exclusively for the assessment, treatment or care of patients.

(b) A qualifying specialist palliative care unit does not include any part of the unit which consists of consultants' rooms or offices.

(c) A qualifying specialist palliative care unit does not include any part of the unit in which a majority of the persons being maintained are being treated for acute illnesses.",

and

(iv) in subsection (9)—

(I) by deleting "and" at the end of paragraph (h) and by substituting "2006, and" for "2006." in paragraph (i), and

(II) by inserting the following after paragraph (i):

"(j) by reference to paragraph (m), as respects capital expenditure incurred on or after the date of the coming into operation of section 25 of the Finance Act 2008.",

(b) in section 272—

(i) in subsection (3)—

(I) by deleting "and" at the end of paragraph (h) and by substituting "subsection (2)(c), and" for "subsection (2)(c)." in paragraph (i), and

(II) by inserting the following after paragraph (i):

"(j) in relation to a building or structure which is to be regarded as an industrial building or structure within the meaning of paragraph (m) of section 268(1), 15 per cent of the expenditure referred to in subsection(2)(c).",

and

(ii) in subsection (4)—

(I) by deleting "and" at the end of paragraph (h) and by substituting "expenditure, and" for "expenditure." in paragraph (i), and

(II) by inserting the following after paragraph (i):

"(j) in relation to a building or structure which is to be regarded as an industrial building or structure within the meaning of paragraph (m) of section 268(1)—

(I) 15 years beginning with the time when the building or structure was first used, or

(II) where capital expenditure on the refurbishment of the building or structure is incurred, 15 years beginning with the time when the building or structure was first used subsequent to the incurring of that expenditure.",

(c) in section 274—

(i) in subsection (1)(b)—

(I) by deleting "and" at the end of subparagraph (vii) and by substituting "expenditure, and" for "expenditure." in subparagraph (viii), and

(II) by inserting the following after subparagraph (viii):

"(ix) in relation to a building or structure which is to be regarded as an industrial building or structure within the meaning of paragraph (m) of section 268(1)—

(I) 15 years after the building or structure was first used, or

(II) where capital expenditure on the refurbishment of the building or structure is incurred, 15 years after the building or structure was first used subsequent to the incurring of that expenditure.",

(ii) in subsection (2A)(a)—

(I) by deleting "or" at the end of subparagraph (v) and by substituting "section, or" for "section." in subparagraph (vi), and

(II) by inserting the following after subparagraph (vi):

"(vii) is in use for the purposes of a trade referred to in paragraph (m) of section 268(1).",

and

(iii) in subsection (2A)(b)(i), by substituting "(v), (vi) or (vii)" for "(v) or (vi)"

and

(d) in Schedule 25B—

(i) by inserting the following after clause (VI) of paragraph (a)(i) of the matter set out opposite reference number 13:

"(VII) section 268(1)(m) (inserted by the Finance Act 2008),",

and

(ii) by inserting the following after clause (VI) of paragraph (a)(i) of the matter set out opposite reference number 15:

"(VII) section 268(1)(m) (inserted by the Finance Act 2008),".

(2) This section comes into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Finance may by order or orders appoint and different days may be appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

This amendment inserts a new section 25 in the Bill which provides for a new scheme of capital allowances for capital expenditure incurred on the construction and refurbishment of qualifying specialist palliative care units. The scheme has similar terms, conditions and exclusions to those which apply in the case of qualifying private hospitals and qualifying mental health centres.

There are gaps in the supply of and demand for palliative care facilities which vary from region to region. I am putting this scheme in place to encourage private sector investment to fill some of those gaps but only where proposed developments of palliative care facilities are in line with the longer-term public health policy objectives in this area. As with other similar schemes which I have reviewed in recent years, I will keep this scheme under review to ensure that it meets the requirements I have in mind for it.

For expenditure to qualify under the scheme of capital allowances, the development of a facility must have pre-approval from the Health Service Executive — with the consent of the Minister for Health and Children — as being in line with national development plans and needs assessments for palliative care facilities. Among other requirements, a qualifying facility must have a minimum of 20 inpatient palliative care beds.

The HSE must also certify, on an annual basis for 15 years from first use, that a facility has satisfied the terms and conditions in the legislation. A claw back of the allowances will apply if a facility is sold or ceases relevant use during this 15-year period.

Relief for eligible capital expenditure incurred will be available at the rate of 15% per year in the first six years with 10% in year seven. Eligible expenditure is net of any grants or other financial assistance received towards development costs.

The restriction on the use of tax reliefs by high income individuals applies to investors who avail of capital allowances under the scheme.

Approval from a State-aid perspective is required from the EU Commission. Therefore, the scheme will come into operation by way of commencement order once that approval has been obtained.

I reiterate the point I made on the Order of Business, that the motivation behind this is quite upfront and in keeping with the views of the hospice managers' association which is anxious that this facility be available, in addition to other efforts to source income through direct Exchequer issues or through voluntary fund-raising, which happens because of the voluntary hospice movement's strong support in all communities.

Unfortunately, there are parts of the country which do not have up-to-date palliative care facilities. There are palliative care facilities in various acute hospitals where beds are being made available, but in the south east, the north east and the midlands there are no specialist palliative care facilities. There is a policy, a national plan for palliative care facilities, laid out in this area. Obviously, this proposal is not to provide competition but to ensure that we bring forward these palliative care beds in line with HSE and departmental policy and the plans in situ.

In no way is there any other motivation behind this other than to try to achieve it in the manner which, although not quite the same, was applied for private nursing home bed provision. Large shortages were identified and tax relief for private nursing home beds came on stream with the resultant provision of up to 30,000 beds, if memory serves me correctly, in quite a short space of time. I do not know where we would be in the nursing home area had we relied on public procurement provision solely to meet that demand within that timeframe. I doubt very much we would have reached that complement.

This is quite specific and quite limited and is in keeping with previous provisions. HSE approval is required for it to be deemed a qualifying expenditure. The contention that this is some effort to assist the construction industry is unfortunate. This is not the point at all. While I do not mind people having strong views on matters, I ask that they do not ascribe those sort of motivations to me.

See this speech in context