Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Bill is very close to the Senator's position on disposable income, leaving aside mortgage payments. If one takes a couple who have an income of ¤25,000 before they come to having earned the that amount, they can deduct up to ¤20,000 of interest payments from their income. The concept the Senator is taking about is already provided for in the Bill.

On the question of rushing to bring in the legislation, the Revenue Commissioners are being charged with the collection of this tax.

The Revenue Commissioners informed me that if we waited to do this in the finance Bill it would be too late in the year to allow them to make detailed preparations for collecting the tax. They sought certainty about the actual terms of the tax and that certainty is only provided on enactment. This is why we separated it from the finance Bill and introduced it as separate legislation to be done before Christmas.

If good ideas arise today I am perfectly prepared to consider them and then amend this legislation in the finance Bill. For example, I have already made a commitment to introducing an amendment for pyrite houses. I will introduce an amendment on the obligations on the executors of wills. I do not have a solution yet but there must be a better way of doing this than what is described in the Bill. I discussed an issue with another Senator this morning at the start of the debate. She is particularly interested in exemptions for weekend residences for girl guides and for when they go away to scout dens and so on. We will consider that as well. If other issues arise I will not close the door on reasonable amendments, but I will have to do it in the context of the finance Bill. Then it would apply retrospectively to this legislation.