Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I cannot give that commitment. As Deputy Doherty knows, I am the junior Minister in the Department of Finance.

On every occasion when we have raised the issue of reports during this Report Stage debate we have committed to trying to make sure each report is available in good time so the members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform or spokespersons will have the reports concluded and people can make a determination prior to the budget. I cannot give that commitment. It is not within my gift.

The amendment would have impacted on normal business activity. The Revenue Commissioners are saying to me, as the Minister of State with responsibility for financial services, that it is too big a risk to take. We think the right thing to do is to delete the sections and revisit this in the Finance Bill 2018. If anything is happening that is not as we would expect we can move more quickly.

See this speech in context