Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We cannot put forward amendments that would impose a charge on the State and on the people but this amendment goes to the core in terms of the Government facilitating the purchase of both commercial and residential property in this State by international funds in that despite the huge uplift in property prices in recent years, capital gains tax will not apply. I made this point strongly on Committee Stage. It is one of the serious flaws in terms of these funds.

I have welcomed the Minister's amendment in that it goes further than was the case previously but this allows for those in the funds industry who came here and bought commercial property in Dublin four and a half years ago to hold on to that property for another six months before they flip it and not be subject to capital gains tax. That is immoral. We are talking about billions of euro of assets, not millions or hundreds of millions, that have been bought up by international investors who have invested in these funds structures and the huge uplift in commercial property in the past three to four years, which is usually taxable in terms of capital gains if the company was outside a funds structure, but CGT will not apply.

While I cannot put forward an amendment, as we tried to do on Committee Stage, as did other Deputies, to delete that section, we need a report from Government stating clearly the amount of tax the country is losing because this exemption has been put in place. It is a fair request that the Government would have to lay before the House, within 18 months of the passing of the Act to allow for the reporting to take place, and every 12 months thereafter, a report on the amount of money the Exchequer is down as a result of allowing this exemption from CGT for funds that hold properties for five years or longer.

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