Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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I begin by offering my congratulations to the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his elevation. I hope his new role does not distract him from continuing to represent my in-laws in Kilkenny city, namely John and Noeleen Breen.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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They do not have any worries.

Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I also pay tribute to former councillor Joe Bourke, from Templemore, who passed away this evening. I had Joe Bourke here in Leinster House a number of weeks ago. Unfortunately, Joe had not been well. I had the distinction of serving with Joe on Tipperary County Council and on the Southern Regional Assembly. He was a man of exceptional traits and character and a real positive force within his community. I am thinking of his family and extended family this evening.

On 10 February, managers at the National Ambulance Service were instructed not to bring their staff vehicles home out of hours until a dispute over benefit-in-kind had been resolved. That particular instruction was confirmed by the Health Service Executive in a statement:

The HSE must comply with Revenue Commissioner regulations in relation to what in this case is the potential personal use of publicly owned vehicles. All HSE employees are covered by these rules. The HSE National Ambulance Service has identified that the number of incidents responded to by vehicle users outside of working hours is minimal.

The statement concluded, "As a public body, the HSE cannot support the use of publicly owned emergency vehicles for purposes that the Revenue Commissioner considers potential personal use or benefit."

I do not think there is any doubt these National Ambulance Service managers are heroes at the local level. Put very simply, they save lives. These are fully equipped and marked emergency vehicles. Such vehicles are not a luxury, and in the context of my intervention, they are not a benefit-in-kind. Our National Ambulance Service managers are not just first responders, they play a crucial role in critical incident operation, planning and management. I also acknowledge the many first responders, members of more than 200 community groups who volunteer and make themselves available in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest.

Every effort must be made to find a resolution between senior management of the HSE and the director of the National Ambulance Service. This decision, if implemented, may lead to National Ambulance Service managers no longer being in a position to rapidly respond to calls out of hours when required. Lives could potentially be lost. I am calling on the Minister to personally intervene with the Revenue Commissioners to give urgent clarity that benefit-in-kind does not apply when it comes to emergency vehicles that are fully equipped and fully marked.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I also congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his election.

I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this important matter. I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, who has engaged with the Revenue Commissioners on this matter. He has been informed by Revenue that there has been no change in the legislation nor in Revenue’s interpretation of the existing legislation relating to the benefit-in-kind charge which is applicable on employer-provided vehicles or the exemption relating to the pooling of cars or vans.

Sections 121 and 121A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provide that where a car or a van is made available to an employee by his or her employer for the employee’s private use, then the employee is chargeable to benefit-in-kind. Where such a benefit is provided, the employer is required to include that notional payment as part of the employee’s emoluments and to deduct tax through the PAYE system accordingly. An employer makes a vehicle available to an employee through the provision of the use of a vehicle, and covering any vehicle running costs, such as insurance and petrol, on behalf of the employee.

Section 121(7) provides that a vehicle which is included in a car or van pool for the use of employees of one or more employers is treated as not available for the private use of employees, that is, not giving rise to a benefit-in-kind charge, if, in the tax year, all of the following conditions are met: that the vehicle is available to, and actually used by, more than one of the employees concerned; in the case of each employee, the vehicle is made available to him or her by reason of his or her employment; the vehicle is not ordinarily used by any one employee to the exclusion of the others; in the case of each of the employees concerned, any private use of the vehicle by him or her is merely incidental to his or her business use; and the vehicle is not normally kept overnight at or in the vicinity of any of the employees’ homes.

The Minister for Finance has asked his officials to engage with the HSE to establish whether there has been any change in policy by it in how it implements this measure. The HSE has also been asked to establish the number of people impacted by the issue.

In addition to the exemption provided for in section 121(7), Revenue has indicated that there is a long-standing published Revenue practice that allows a vehicle provided to an officer of the State, including an officer of a statutory body, to be deemed to be included in a vehicle pool, thus not giving rise to a benefit-in-kind charge if: it is scheduled and verifiable that the officer is obliged to be on call outside of his or her normal working hours to respond to situations giving rise to possible contravention of law; the officer is provided with a vehicle for this purpose during the periods concerned and keeps the vehicle overnight at his or her home; and the vehicle would, but for the on-call obligation noted above, be a pool vehicle.

In addition to the engagement with the HSE, the Deputy should note that the Minister for Finance has asked his officials to examine this matter in conjunction with the Revenue Commissioners.

Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the engagement launched by the Minister for Finance with the HSE and the fact that he has asked his departmental officials to examine the matter in conjunction with Revenue. In the event of an update following that engagement, will the Minister update the House?

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I will convey to the Minister for Finance the Deputy's request to be kept up to date.

As I indicated in my opening remarks, there has been no change in the legislation, or Revenue's interpretation of same, relating to the benefit-in-kind charge that is applicable on employer-provided vehicles or the exemption relating to the pooling of cars or vans. However, the nature of this Topical Issue and the number of parliamentary questions that have been received on the issue suggest that there has been a change in how such matters are being treated by the HSE. Consequently, Department of Finance officials intend to engage with the HSE to establish whether any changes have arisen on its side as regards the provision of employer-provided vehicles and-or the application of the benefit-in-kind charge in the context of pooled vehicles taken home at night by the aforementioned National Ambulance Service staff.