Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Revenue's pragmatic approach on the extension of this waiver allowing those individuals to avail of this relief during the time of public health restrictions, which may go into next year. That was what I sought to achieve by raising this on Committee Stage.

On the wider issue of the amendment, I have always said we need to look at this from an all-island point of view and in the context of the Good Friday Agreement. All the statistics indicate the Border region is one of the most neglected and poorest with the lowest median income. The problem here is the practicalities for a company in, for example, Derry or Strabane with employees literally from across the bridge who can currently avail of this relief. That is fine. That means they are not taxed in the State because they work in Strabane. However, the problem is, if they work from home, it is extremely messy. That is the way with some people's work patterns and I am not talking about working from home 365 days a year. We need to introduce a pilot scheme to provide a set number of days when individuals are allowed to work from home in the context of the island of Ireland. I am not talking about people who fly to London, Manchester, Glasgow or elsewhere for their work. This would benefit the Border region and especially employers in the region. I strongly urge the Minister to consider this.

The Minister spoke about equity for taxpayers and I can understand much of the rationale for what he said. However, he needs to remember this campaign is supported by IBEC, the largest employer body in the State.

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