Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

That is what I am saying. We are doing it within the Department. As set out in my Second Stage speech, I intend to ask each of my colleagues in Government to assess the effectiveness of tax expenditure within their sectors, with particular reference to those the Commission on Taxation recommended should be removed from the tax code. My Department will review the outcome of that sectoral analysis and it is my intention to report back to Cabinet on progress by the end of June 2010 such that proper decisions may be made in advance of the budget. There is no question of not carrying out a proper cost-benefit analysis of tax reliefs or of my Department taking a lax attitude in this regard; quite the contrary is the case. We have announced our intention of engaging with Departments. It was not some crony circle that argued for these particular tax reliefs.

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