Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am concerned about the amendment because, as we know, the section was to come into effect on 1 January 2021.

Section 15 amends Ireland's legislation on transfer pricing, Part 35A of the Taxes Consolidation Act, which was updated in the Finance Act 2019. The amendment was brought forward as it became apparent that the exclusion provided in section 835E may have been interpreted more broadly than was intended. I understand it was to ensure the exclusion operates as intended.

The Minister said there may be issues with it. The proposed draft amends the legislation to make clear that the exclusion relates specifically to certain arrangements only and not to any other activity undertaken. However, the amendment the Minister has brought forward on Report Stage proposes that it will be actioned or will come into force on a date that is set by the Minister. We know from experience that this means it may never come into effect, and there has been an ample number of examples down through the years where there is a permission that the Minister “may” bring something into effect.

Having listened to what the Minister has said, it appears it is more than just a question of the timing of when this section would come into effect and is also a question of the consequences or unintended consequences of this section coming into effect. There is an acknowledgement across the House that the section is required. However, what we are hearing now is that there may be consequences of bringing in the section. Instead of trying to fix that in a timely manner, the section might not be introduced at all or it might be introduced at a later stage. That is not a good situation and I ask the Minister to clarify this issue further.

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