Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I too welcome the Finance Bill. I have been speaking about Finance Bills in one way or another since I was first elected to the council in 1998. In those days I was dealing with the finances of the local authority. Here we deal with the finances of the nation. This is the first budget in eight years that is a little more expansionary and that expansionary focus is welcome, particularly on the capital side where we need to increase spending to build for the future. Whether it is housing, road infrastructure or broadband, this will ensure we will have a growing economy far into the future.

I welcome the maintenance of the home renovation incentive scheme. This is an excellent scheme which has benefited the small guy, not big property developers associated with Fianna Fáil during the years. It is a scheme for the small fellow with a small van on the side of the road. It has allowed people who could not afford to move from a three bedroom to a four bedroom house to extend their properties. I would have liked to have seen something done for retired people who do not have a mainstream income and are not paying income tax in order that they could benefit from the scheme also. Perhaps the Minister might look at the possibility of writing off the DIRT being paid on small savings as part of the scheme.

I would have liked to have seen more being done on capital gains tax for innovative companies which wish to use their knowledge boxes. The rate currently stands at 20%, but our competitors, in particular Britain and Northern Ireland, enjoy a 10% rate. I hope the Minister will signal that his objective is to reduce the 20% rate to 10%.

The innovation in the new motor tax rate for lorries is extremely welcome. A number of large companies operate in my constituency. They provide a service for various industries in the area, including the agriculture and business sectors, by moving material. It is hoped this change in the rate of road tax will have a knock-on effect to the benefit of the ordinary consumer on the street and that there will be a reduction in the cost of some of the products being shipped.

I wish to mention one thing the Minister may not be able to deal with directly but perhaps he will become involved in it at EU level. He said he would like to see every schoolchild have an iPad. In my area a number of schools, in particular for those just starting off, have introduced iPads. That kids are not carrying heavy books to school is a welcome innovation. There is an issue, however, with the VAT rate. The European Union regards the provision of electronic books as a service. No VAT applies to hard copies. If a school is using iPads and downloads books in electronic form, VAT applies at a rate of 23%. The French and Luxembourgish Governments received a knock back in the European court in seeking to reduce the VAT rate to a lower level for electronic books. The European Commission is now reviewing VAT laws. I would like us to make a strong submission to have a VAT rate of 0% applied to electronic books, particularly educational books. I hope the next time we have a Finance Bill introduced and delivered by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, we will be reducing the VAT rate applied to electronic books to 0%.

The budget is welcome and slightly expansionary, particularly on the capital side, but the capital programmes will deliver. If we want the economy to keep growing, we need to invest in infrastructure for the future.

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