Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his reply. The point I am arguing is that we threw out the baby with the bathwater when we abolished this tax relief. I accept there were abuses of the scheme and that some companies were gaining to a huge extent. Nevertheless, the decision to eliminate it has done great damage to the smaller companies engaged in research and development which were reliant on it. The abolition of the scheme has also reduced the incentive to bring new products to market. I acknowledge it is complex legislation, but we owe it to the small and medium-sized business sector, on which we are placing a great emphasis in our efforts to mend the economy, to re-evaluate our approach. A one-cap-fits-all position is not the right approach to take. I ask the Minister to consider reintroducing the scheme in a targeted manner and with much reduced cap. The previous cap of €5 million was excessive - reducing it to €100,000 will help to restore our edge in terms of research and development by encouraging entrepreneurship among small and medium-sized businesses. The abolition of the relief scheme threatens to choke all endeavour in that regard.

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