Results 3,221-3,240 of 45,510 for speaker:Simon Harris

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: As I outlined, the rationale behind it is that we have taken out the two-storey over the basement scenario where there had to be a commercial and living spaces. That reality no longer exists.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: Yes.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: It is allowed in the section once it is not a Georgian house.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: Yes, but all we did in this Bill is to take out the two-storey over the basement part.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: Yes.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: Deputy Doherty wants to talk about what we have currently but the amendment is important.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: By bringing in the single-storey, it changes the reality.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: No, that is not required. The space above must be available to be lived in but does not have to be refurbished by the person locating the commercial activity within the building. People cannot move in and put commercial activities upstairs.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: But not necessarily by the same person.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: Yes, but not necessarily by the same person. Someone could operate commercially in the basement and someone must live in the upper floors. We are moving to a different scenario now.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: Yes.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: Yes but it could have different people involved.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: Yes. The Deputy is correct and I have tried to explain the rationale behind it. I will give it another go. The rationale is twofold, the first point being that we are no longer dealing with houses that have a basement. We did not want to have a commercial operation going into an entire Georgian building, where potential living quarters in a Georgian house or relevant house could end up...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: There is a residential element to the legislation. I do not accept that there is a dilution of the residential element. Section 372AAC has always allowed people to get relief on commercial premises. Subsection 3 addressed the specific situation where the commercial property was in the basement of a pre-1915 building with two storeys over the basement. It is an evolving scheme and...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: To clarify that point, there are two elements to the legislation, the residential and commercial. The commercial element refers to section 372AAC and always allowed people to get relief on any commercial premises. Subsection 3, which we are deleting, addressed a particular situation where the commercial property was in the basement of a pre-1915 building with two stories over the basement....

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: We have taken a commercial element into consideration. I certainly do not wish to mislead and I am sorry that this has been quite a technical discussion. The Deputy is correct, there are two elements. That is the only way the cost of the refurbishment of the commercial floors could be funded. There is a residential element also.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: ----- which is stand-alone.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: There are other things that are completely different from what was otherwise anticipated, such as the cap. This scheme has been evolving in the past two years. The concept of the scheme is to get people back to the city. Yes, it is intended to get people living in cities but also to get life back into parts of the city. It is not a scheme that has been drawn up by Department of Finance...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: Yes. I will consider the points the Deputy has made. I refer to the points I have made on behalf of the Minister for Finance, in which he outlined directly the requirement for a person to live above the premises. He said that with the benefit of hindsight he has concluded that the restriction is an unnecessary complication which will have little or no effect on the scheme but that the aid...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Finance Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2014)

Simon Harris: This brings us back to Deputy McGrath's amendment and whether this scheme should apply to Bray, County Wicklow. It is certainly not ruled out but one has to remember, as Deputy McGrath rightly pointed out, that it is two years since this scheme was initiated and we still have not got EU state aid approval over the line. We are inserting a limit to the relief in the Bill and I hope this will...