Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If we accepted the amendments, legislatively the status quowould remain in place. The Government is introducing legislation in this area on the basis of advice from the Revenue Commissioners to try to crack down on abuses of an exemption that was never intended to be applied as it has been applied. I fully accept that no Member of this House wishes for a continuation of this kind of application of the exemption and I fully accept that is not why the amendments have been tabled. It is our view that the legislative proposals are prudent in terms of giving the Revenue Commissioners the tools they need to crack down on the abuse. I gave the Deputies three examples. The Revenue Commissioners are of the view that the problem is quite large.

Some of the questions Deputy Doherty asked relate to the fact that there is self-assessment. There is an element of self-assessment and of taking people at their word regarding the tax. People can receive €225,000 before €1 of tax is paid. That is the aggregate amount that can be received by a child from a parent in a lifetime.

I take the point that some Deputies, including Deputy Creighton and Deputy Shatter, have made on property prices. I have outlined the position of the Minister for Finance that the property value thresholds and their interaction with the tax are kept under review. Were I to accept the amendments, I would be ignoring the advice of the Revenue Commissioners and leaving the status quolegislatively in place. Therefore, I do not propose to accept them.

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