Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the amendment. A point was raised about non-executives who worked for charities and non-profit organisations and it is particularly welcome that the amendment appears to help them.

I have a question about the so-called high rollers, whatever number they constitute. In the case of a non-executive director of a company who earns any amount above €5,000 - let us say he or she earns €20,000 a year in that role - has to travel to attend a board meeting in Cork and is put up in a hotel, I understand he or she will be taxed on the cost of staying in the hotel. If a civil servant who earns €80,000 or €100,000 has to attend a meeting in Cork, he or she will also have the cost of staying in the hotel paid, but he or s he will not be taxed. Will the Minister explain the rationale behind this measure? I want to welcome what he has done, but I am still unclear as to the reason the amount of money one is paid by a company impacts on the principle. If someone is doing something for his or her business, be it helping a charity or working for a business, and there are legitimate business costs incurred, be it travel expenses or the cost of staying in a hotel or having dinner, in principle, why is the Minister keeping him or her within the provision? Perhaps there is a reason for it which I do not see it, but I still think it violates the principle, in that if it is a legitimate cost and there is no gain to the person, he or she should not incur a liability. The Minister might explain why that is the case.

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