Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is no programme for Government commitment in this regard. In fairness, the previous Government commenced the process of restricting the amounts of tax forgone in these areas. The Government does not propose to return to the mad cap spree of offering tax breaks for everyone. There are arguments for targeted relief if one believes there is potential for job creation. Ireland has been hugely successful not only on the aircraft side of the business but on the leasing side. This is now an international hub for such activity, which justifies this measure. We see the potential for significant engineering works and resulting jobs in the economy. Members will be aware that the aviation sector is expanding vastly and if we do not move on it, others will. Ireland is a small, open and highly deleveraged economy and people look very closely at what happens here. There are arguments in favour of having targeted and focused tax reliefs in areas in which we believe there is potential for job creation. That is what we are doing with this measure.

For the benefit of Senators Sean D. Barrett and David Norris, the high earnings restriction of 30% which applies across the full range of reliefs of this nature applies in this case. It is not a matter of people squirrelling away their tax liabilities as a result of building a hangar. On the contrary, the 30% rate applies in all circumstances. The Government stands over this measure.