Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not propose to accept amendment No. 3. The reason it was necessary to include the reference "qualifying contractors" in paragraph (d) was to make it absolutely clear the minimum threshold of €5,000 in the paragraph does not apply to each individual contractor engaged by a home owner. It applies collectively to all contractors engaged by the homeowner. If this threshold applied to each contractor it would serve to exclude many homeowners from the incentive. It is necessary to include the words "a number of" when referring to "qualifying contractors". It is not clear what years of assessment are referred to in the first line of amendment No. 3.

If I understand it correctly, there may be a belief that a claim can only be made in respect of a particular year of assessment, namely, the year in which the claim is made. This is not the case. In the current formulation of paragraph (a), there is no specific link between the making of a claim and the year of assessment in which payments are made to a contractor. When making a claim, the homeowner must prove that in either or both of the years covered by the scheme a payment or payments were made to the contractor or contractors who carried out the work. It is as simple as that.

Let us consider the example of a homeowner who pays his or her contractor or contractors €1,000 in December 2013, €2,500 in April 2014 and €3,000 in March 2015. In such circumstances, the minimum threshold would only be reached in March 2015 and it would not be possible, therefore, for a claim to be made in respect of the 2013 and 2014 payments, totalling €3,500, prior to that date. As soon as the minimum threshold is reached in March 2015, the homeowner could submit a claim in respect of the 2013 and 2014 payments. The credit in respect of 2013 and 2014 will be spread over the two tax years of 2015 and 2016. The credit relating to the €3,000 payment in 2015 will be spread over the two tax years of 2016 and 2017. I hope this clarifies the point. As far as I and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, are concerned, there is now clarity in terms of the application of this provision. Once the minimum threshold kicks in, the provision will apply. As far as we are concerned, the difficulty the Deputy has articulated in the context of the qualifying year is not an issue.

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