Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Minister did not answer my question. I asked it on Committee Stage and I asked it again but he did not answer it. He told me what he thought this was doing and that it is a marginal improvement in that it tries to impose some sort of withholding tax, but it retains the fundamental tax break, or tax status, for these funds that are speculating in property. Can the Minister explain how it is legitimate or justified for these property-speculating funds to have this special status where they will not pay any capital gains tax on massive gains on property as long as they hold on to it for five years?

I asked another question on Committee Stage, to which I sort of got an answer but one which was not confirmed. Is it true that, as long as they do not distribute the rental income they earn as dividends, they will not pay any tax on it? If they roll up that rental income to buy even more assets and make a capital gain then, as long as they hold onto them from five years, do they pay no capital gains? It is win, win, win for these guys as they speculate in a property bubble while we get nothing back for it. Why is the Government doing this? Please explain to me what the benefit is for this country of retaining this real estate fund special tax status, tax break, loophole or whatever one wants to call it? I do not understand it, and the Minister has not given any rationale. All he has done is tell us of the merits of the little change he is making, which is something of an improvement. Nevertheless he is retaining the fundamental tax break.

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