Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

With regard to Financial Resolutions Nos. 20 to 22, inclusive, the Minister is correct to state this is quite a radical change. Nonetheless, it is a change that has been largely supported on this side of the House, at least in respect of bringing to an end some of the reliefs that have been in place for some time. How is it possible that a figure of €100 million is given as a potential saving in a full year? It presupposes that we know the total number of individuals who have been able to obtain the section 23 relief thus far. If the Minister claims that a saving of €100 million can be made in a full year, will he inform the House as to the number of individuals affected by the roll-up?

The Minister stated that the guillotine provision will be introduced by 2014, by which time all the unused capital allowance must be lost. Why was 2014, which is three years from now, selected as the date? Given the desire to have a greater yield, why was an earlier date not set? The Minister said the full impact statement has yet to be determined. One would have expected that it would have been in place before the decision was arrived at.

With regard to the changes to the artists' exemption, many people have been arguing for some time that we should have been moving in this direction. I hope the change will not destroy the possibility of Ministers on the other side of the House writing their memoirs when they move to this side of the House in the next few weeks or so.

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