Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for correcting the point that was made at the select committee. It probably just adds to the argument I was making about the need to split up "land" and "buildings". What I heard from the Minister is a lot of challenges but no reason it cannot be done. My point is that this is not just a matter of timing. Commercial buildings in Dublin will be sold next year for other reasons relating to the portfolio or the need to reinvest money etc. Those buildings will be sold and it will have been planned to pay 33% CGT on the capital gains. As a result of this amendment, those concerned will now walk away without paying that tax. That is huge. It is absolutely huge. We are talking about buildings that were bought in or about 2012 and are being sold in 2017 and 2018. In some cases, there will have been a 100% uplift. It is a massive amount of money. I do not want a report. We can forget about that. What I want is for the Government to carve out those types of commercial buildings and to ensure that land is released for development purposes, which is what we really want.

On the issue of the definition of "buildings" and "land" and so on, the hotel and the car park might not be deemed "land" but there might be land at the back of the hotel etc.

7 o’clock

All of those issues can be resolved. If there had been willingness, those issues could have been resolved. Maybe it is too late given the late stage we are at in dealing with the Finance Bill. I must flag, however, that the approach being taken is wrong. The Department, through a direction from the Minister, should have stipulated that the CGT four-year exemption should only have been for land. As with the I-RES, we were able to create a new, whole new definition of companies that hold property. We could have done the same thing for those assets that would comprise land alone. That is my main concern. That is why I want a report and monitoring. I want to see the impact of somebody selling a hotel. We do not see the impact but people will seriously benefit from my amendment financially.

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