Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Perhaps the Minister of State could make his comment and then make a suggestion to the Minister.

There have been two notable reports into property-based tax incentives that led to decisions by previous Governments to eventually wind down many of the incentives. Today we are discussing property-based tax incentives but they are bundled up in a complex web of different types of fund structures. Some of the earlier amendments proposed an overall look at the system to compare the Irish regime with regimes in other countries and to compare the regime for fund structures here with those for other investors such as Irish investors be they institutional, corporate or non-body corporate. I believe an assessment should be carried out, including one on this particular issue. The Minister should and could give that commitment. His commitment does not need to be statutorily based.

Earlier we discussed how the mechanism for tabling amendments that call for a report is generally done to generate discussion. The Government should carry out an assessment on this important public policy issue, particularly given the structural changes that have taken place in the Irish property market. In the past significant reports on property-based tax incentives led to major changes in the direction of public policy. We should take a hard look at this whole area.

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