Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

If the point of this section is to tax foreign investors, then the section fails because while I agree with Deputy Pearse Doherty that foreign landlords are buying large swathes of the country - or at least the capital - it is institutional landlords that are making the purchases. Yes, there are exceptions, but institutional landlords in this section remain completely exempt from withholding tax. Investment undertakings within the European area remain exempt from withholding tax.

While the section may successfully target a few high-net-worth individuals buying some things, the section locks in no corporation tax and no capital gains tax. I have not been able to find any other country that does not charge capital gains tax and corporation tax on normal trading profits in the property sector. Exempting the entire investment-property asset base from corporation tax and capital gains tax is not a normal thing to do. Dublin now has a property bubble that is bigger than it was in 2007 because they are all coming in here tax-free. For foreign institutional investors buying property, Ireland is a tax haven; they will never pay any tax. Other countries do not do this.

In accepting the section we are saying, "Well, virtually nobody is paying any tax, so let's get a few high-net-worth individuals to pay tax." No one is paying corporation tax; no one is paying capital gains tax. Most of the people who buy the assets are also exempt from the withholding tax. It is madness.

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