Charlie McCreevy (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

The original relief would be clawed back in such circumstances. A claimant must be a qualified company — a company that carries out research and development activities itself. A lessor that incurs expenditure on the construction of a building and rents it to a research and development company will not qualify for the credit on the construction costs. Therefore, the scheme cannot be regarded as a property based tax relief open to investors. The Bill provides for a general regime where the credit is available to any company engaging in qualifying research and development on a self-assessment basis. This is the normal basis for the tax treatment of companies. I reassure Senator McDowell that the purpose of this section is to prevent any possibility of other forms of tax incentivised property being built. The Bill is not intended to provide for such development.