Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. As she is aware, capital acquisitions tax, CAT, is a tax which applies to both gifts and inheritances. The relationship between the person giving a gift or inheritance and the person who receives it determines the maximum amount, known as the "group threshold", below which CAT does not arise.

As Deputy Carroll MacNeill will be aware, I am not in a position to indicate any decisions that I am going to make in a detailed way in advance of the budget but, in responding to the proposals by the Commission on Taxation and Welfare, I did make very clear that in general I do not have any plans to increase the amount of inheritance tax people pay at the point at which inheritance takes place.

I fully appreciate how sensitive a matter this is for many families. I appreciate that at moments of death and difficulty within families these issues are sensitive and we need to be fair to them. In general, that is my view on the matter. I made this clear when the commission's report was published last week. The Deputy will appreciate and understand that, for now, I cannot go any further than that in terms of any detailed responses I might make, in particular in light of the changes that are happening in the value of homes in recent years.

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