Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have tabled a few amendments on the section and I will attend the committee when section 22 comes up for discussion.

With regard to REITs, there also a withholding tax of 20% on dividends paid to foreign investors and, again, the relief is available. I see that the Minister has informed the European Parliament committee hearing on Tuesday that he had been informed by the EU Commissioner for Competition that there were no further pending State aid cases against Ireland. I find this confusing because I wrote to the EU Commissioner for Competition regarding the exemptions for non-resident investors in Irish REITs and whether they breach EU state aid rules. The Commissioner for Competition confirmed to me, on 21 October, that the Irish tax regime for REITs is under assessment by the services of the Directorate General for Competition. Perhaps the Minister for Finance will clarify if I am right in thinking that the builders and developers' challenge to NAMA being allowed to build 20,000 houses is because it might amount to State aid, or has that gone off the radar?

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