Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 11, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following:

2.—The Minister shall within 12 months from the passing of this Act prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on a cost-benefit analysis of tax expenditures provided for by this Act, setting out the costs of tax foregone, and the benefits in terms of job creation or otherwise.".

The Acting Chairman is correct to state I tabled this amendment on Committee Stage. At the time I acknowledged that this amendment seems to be one that Opposition parties always table and Governments always reject. Perhaps we need to look at the reasons for that. When one looks back over the transcripts of previous debates on budgets, in particular on tax expenditures or reliefs, it is important to consider the outcome of the investment of tax expenditures in particular areas and to measure the effectiveness of such expenditure in an appropriate way, given the whole purpose of having various tax reliefs in place is to generate additional economic activity in certain sectors and generally assist in the economic recovery.

There are a number of new measures in the Finance Bill we may discuss in more detail when we come to the various sections, one of which relates to capital gains tax relief on the purchase of land or buildings before the end of December 2013. There is the special assignee relief programme or SARP, the foreign earnings deduction proposal which was put forward in the Finance Bill, and the expansion of research and development tax credits. The key point is how the Minister will measure the effectiveness of these, given the stated purpose of introducing them is to provide assistance in targeted areas where the Minister believes an intervention is warranted. They are quite targeted and we can discuss them in more detail when we come to the relevant sections but what mechanism or procedure will be in place to ensure they will serve the purpose for which they were established? How will the Minister measure the effectiveness of the various tax expenditures set out in this Bill?

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