Seanad debates

Wednesday, 24 March 2010

Finance Bill 2010 (Certified Money Bill): Second Stage.

 

3:00 am

Photo of Paddy BurkePaddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Power, to the House. I also commend the Minister for Finance for attending the House earlier and I wish him the very best of luck. It was great to see him here making his Second Stage speech.

I support my colleague, Senator Norris, and Deputy Michael Ring on the proposed amendment to the Finance Bill. The Government has tabled a recommendation to the Bill so it must go back to the Dáil. There is no problem with the Government accepting a another recommendation, therefore, and it should consider that being put forward by Senators Twomey and Norris on Westport House.

Senator Norris made a great case for Westport House, as did Deputy Ring and others. Lord Altamont and Westport House have been great ambassadors for Westport, Mayo and the entire country. The house is a great attraction for the west and more than 50,000 visitors head there annually. Something should be done about this and the recommendation set out by Senator Twomey is simple. It proposes a new section 26 that will state:

Section 644AB and 649B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 shall not apply where a change in the zoning of lands was contained in a draft development plan or a draft local area plan published prior to 30 October 2009 and adopted after 30 October 2009. The zoning of lands in the draft development plan or a draft local area plan published prior to 30 October 2009 and adopted after 30 October 2009 shall be deemed to be the actual zoning of the land on 30 October 2009 for the purposes of section 644AB and 649B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.

The explanatory memorandum for the Bill states:

Section 644AB contains the income tax and corporation tax provisions and section 649B contains the capital gains tax provisions. The amendment changes both sections in the same way.

The amendment provides for an exemption from the 80 per cent tax rate for disposals of small sites. For the purposes of the exemption, a small site is one that does not exceed 0.4047 hectares (one acre) in size and whose market value at the time of disposal does not exceed €250,000.

The memorandum also states:

Section 25 amends sections 644AB and 649B of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 which concern the circumstances in which a special 80 per cent tax rate is to be applied to "windfall" profits or gains from certain land disposals. These sections were inserted into the TCA by the National Asset Management Agency Act 2009.

Lord Altamont and Westport House provide a great service. There is an open house with 50,000 visitors per year. The upkeep of such estates is costly and other work needs to be done. If the work is to be done and the house is to continue to act as an attraction, it will require substantial funding. That funding can only be secured in two ways: borrowings or the disposal of assets.

I cannot see how Lord Altamont would borrow money to upgrade his house in order to open it to the public. We are seeking an exemption so that a sale of land will not be subject to the 80% windfall tax. This is a simple measure which can easily be included in the Bill. I am aware the Minister understands the issue.

Given that the Bill must go back to the Dáil, if the Government does not agree with the recommendation proposed by Senators Twomey and Norris, it could introduce a further amendment on Report Stage to make a specific provision for Westport House. Perhaps such an amendment would require that the tax foregone is spent on the house and its grounds. I am sure a way could be found to support this worthy project. As has been pointed out by previous speakers, there are only seven houses of this type in Ireland and they are a huge attraction to visitors.

Westport House is a tremendous asset for Westport, which is one of the finest tourism attractions in the country. A significant proportion of our visitors come from Northern Ireland, England, America and central Europe. The grounds of Westport House are on occasion used as a camping facility.

Much comment has been made about the disappointing situation at the Passport Office. It would be a simple matter for an official to prioritise the people who need their passports tomorrow in the queues outside the office. People at the back of the queue who needed passports straight away were waiting a couple of days to reach the front. I hope this issue is resolved for the travelling public. I dealt with an issue involving a quantity surveyor who is responsible for 80 jobs and had to travel to England urgently. He went to the Passport Office at 9 a.m. but was told he would not get a passport. I believe that gentleman has a constitutional right to a passport and that he would win his case if he took it to the High Court. He was forced to take the boat and find his way from Holyhead to London. That he made his appointment on time even though somebody could not process his passport demonstrates his commitment. The Government has handled the issue very poorly.

The proposals which Fine Gael has brought forward deserve the Government's consideration. The NewERA document prepared by Deputy Coveney proposes to create up to 100,000 jobs. Given the current economic state of the country, these proposals deserve to be taken on board because the measures introduced by the Government are not working or are being implemented at a very slow pace.

This morning, the Leader incorrectly argued that Anglo Irish Bank is similar to the Insurance Corporation of Ireland, ICI, which was established to support industrial development. There is a big difference between the two, however, because the money that the Government invested in ICI was used to establish and promote enterprises. Anglo Irish Bank is broke and needs €7 billion to keep its creditors at bay. It simply cannot pump credit into Irish businesses.

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