Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

This amendment was encouraged by Senator Joe O'Toole who has done a lot of work in this field. Having read the Committee Stage debate contribution by the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, Senator O'Toole was concerned that the Government was interpreting this as an attempt to move tax law ahead of general law. Senator O'Toole has very cogently made the point that this is not such an attempt. This amendment seeks to recognise that where a defendant agrees to pay to a plaintiff a sum of money on an annual basis, the tax provisions would not make this a prohibitively difficult option for those agreeing parties in the court. The court already allows them to agree to such an arrangement but the difficulty is that, under existing tax law, the plaintiff would receive the money as if it were income to be subject to tax whereas the lump sum arrangement, which is the conventional arrangement, would not be subject to tax.

This amendment seeks to allow something already allowed by the courts not to be obstructed by the tax code. The amendment is not seeking to break new ground or to upstage any discussions of a wider nature. However, it is eight years since the Government adopted in principle the idea that we should facilitate annual payments instead of lump sum payments. This is an important point to make. This amendment is simply facilitating a recognised and acceptable court agreement by removing a tax obstacle that might otherwise stand in its way. I hope the Minister can agree to it.

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