Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Ar ndóigh, tá an-áthas orm labhairt ar an ábhar seo maidir leis an One Percent Difference agus an feachtas seo atá ar bun. Tagaim le cuid mhaith dá bhfuil ráite ag mo chomhleacaí anseo. According to the dictionary, philanthropy is the performance of charitable or benevolent actions but the root of the word comes from the Greek and means the love of mankind. We all ask for more philanthropy on that basis. From my understanding of philanthropy, there is a general sense that it comes from a person or an organisation with a lot of wealth who or which is therefore in a position to give more. In Ireland we have a reputation of citizens giving a lot to charitable causes. Much of what has been discussed is volunteerism. There is a huge sense of volunteerism in the country, where people give freely of their time.

Philanthropy has been important here in the past number of years. It is important to put the debate in the context of these difficult financial times. Many NGOs are almost completely dependent on the contributions of philanthropic organisations to keep the ship afloat during these difficult times. A number of large philanthropic organisations are ending their engagement with us and it will cause a lot of angst. It is important that the money from the campaign is used to support those organisations to ensure we have continuity. There is a difference between philanthropy and sponsorship. This country has had a lot of sponsorship by large organisations but the nature of sponsorship is that there is a quid pro quo and that the companies or organisations look for some form of return. My understanding of philanthropy is that an organisation will give without strings attached, although there must be oversight.

Ireland does not have a great record on philanthropy and it is something new to us. Sinn Féin welcomed any plans to increase giving. It is important that any proposals to increase investment in philanthropy are discussed and fully teased out, particularly in respect of taxation. At the outset, Sinn Féin has serious concerns about proposals attempting to change the country's tax residency laws under the guise of the giving campaign. People availing of such laws are tax exiles. They are Irish residents but they do not stay here for more than 182 years per day and do not pay taxes on global profits, only their Irish interest profits. We know many of them and it has been reported that they will go to the limit, remaining here for 182 days a year or 280 over two years. We saw an abuse of the system until 2008. In 2009, we got rid of the Cinderella clause, where jets took off from Dublin Airport at 11.59 p.m so that the day was not counted. Sinn Féin has serious concerns that any attempt to link the national giving campaign with tax breaks for those in exile could lead to the view that we are selling tax residency.

However, that does not throw cold water on the whole concept. The previous Government introduced the domicile levy, which had a lower threshold in terms of what people had to contribute. The domicile levy is €200,000, which can be written off against tax on Irish interests. Only seven people paid the domicile levy in the last year for which we have figures. Some 11,307 people made income tax returns in 2011 and claimed they are not tax resident. The pool of people to which this could apply is 11,307. From the domicile levy, we see it is a very low number.

Sinn Féin welcomes the national giving campaign but we are wary of any tax breaks for exiles that may be seen as a way of abusing it. We are also concerned that philanthropy should never be seen as a replacement for State support. The State should not abdicate its responsibility in respect of charities, NGOs and arts bodies. We note concerns brought to our attention that there must be some form of regulation of the bodies in receipt of funding. In some organisations, there are fears that money donated or given on a philanthropic basis can be swallowed up in structures and administration costs. Many people would like to see more money spent on projects on the ground. Go ginearálta, fáiltíonn muid roimh an obair atá ar bun ag an Aire.