Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 39, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following:"20.The Minister shall, within nine months from the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on options available with regards to ensuring that the new Petroleum Products Tax applies to all earnings from all petroleum revenue within Irish territory, regardless of discovery date at the taxable field.".

We had a short discussion on this on Committee Stage. It is a different amendment but it goes to the same core issue. It relates to the oil and gas that has been found but also the new taxation rates the Minister introduced in the Finance Bill. I must say we welcome the change to the petroleum products tax, but it falls short of the overall change that is required.

This amendment, given the limitations on the Opposition in terms of tabling amendments that pose a charge on the State, is framed in such a way as to provide that the Minister shall, within nine months from the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on options available with regard to ensuring that the new petroleum products tax applies to all earnings from all petroleum revenue within Irish territory, regardless of the discovery date at the taxable field.

The tax, now that the Minister is introducing the increase, will only apply in the case of any discover of oil or gas after 18 June 2014, which will result in the exclusion of significant finds, such as the Corrib gas field, from this tax. We would like to see this tax applied to all future earnings on any discovery, regardless of when the discovery was made. It is not about changing the rules and trying to apply a tax for years that have passed, but about applying a tax on profits that will accrue from the production of fields that have been discovered in previous years.

I note that the report issued by the committee, which enjoyed all-party approval, went away beyond what the Minister is proposing in the Bill. The Minister hired a consultancy firm to examine that, and suggests the model that the firm suggested.

The core of the proposal here is that it should apply to all profits, regardless of discovery date.

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