Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 12:

In page 15, to delete line 16 and substitute the following: "

Return delivered between 0 and 2 months from the specified date

5 per cent

Amendment No. 12 states that if a return is delivered between zero and two months from the specified date, companies will pay a surcharge at a rate of 5%. Amendment No. 13 states that if a return is delivered between two and six months from the specified date, they will pay a surcharge at a rate of 10%. Amendment No. 14 states that where a return is delivered after six months, they will pay a surcharge at a rate of 50%.

Amendments Nos. 12 and 13 bring this surcharge measure in line with the section 1084(2)(a) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, which applies a 5% surcharge where a return is delivered between zero and two months, and a 10% surcharge where a return is delivered between two and six months. The maximum increased amounts per time period for late return are €12,695 and €63,485, respectively. The Government's version of the Bill had a surcharge of 5% between four and six months, and 10% after six months, with the same maximum amounts. Amendment No. 14 increases the surcharge by 50% after six months, and there is no cap.

We need to ensure that energy companies pay this contribution, and this is taken extremely seriously. These eye-watering profits were earned off the back of war, a pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis. Irish workers and families have not had a break, and they urgently need relief from these rip-off, extortionate energy costs. This is exactly what this should be used for, which is what our other amendments had called for concerning the distribution of proceeds.

As I have said, amendments Nos. 12 and 13 bring this measure in line with the Taxes Consolidation Act. It is reasonable to ask why the Government, in its proposal, wants a more lax regime when it comes to the enforcement of this temporary solidarity contribution. In fact, it is the opposite. In the suite of amendments that have been proposed by the Opposition - many of them ruled out - it has been about being more aggressive with this tax and going further beyond the 75%. It is about ensuring that write-offs or loopholes are closed with regard to losses and capital expenditure, focusing on how the moneys raised will be spent in terms of ring-fencing, and directing funding towards those who need it. That is everyone, because everybody has suffered the increased cost of energy.

I propose these entirely appropriate and important measures as a statement of intent from these Houses that we recognise that super-excess profits have been earned on the back of war. Those moneys need to be collected and distributed to those people in need. We cannot allow for loopholes or a lax regime that is even more lax than the one that is available for general businesses and the public in making their tax returns. We need a stronger regime, and that is what we are proposing here. It is important that the Government supports and adopts it.

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