Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I might have made this call before, but obviously it is not going to happen this side of the recess. I ask the Leader for a meeting with the Minister for Finance where we would have a pre-budget debate. It would be interesting to get the diverse views of the Members of the House on aspects of the budget.

I saw last week while I was away that there was some comment about inheritance tax. Those who read the papers on Sunday saw that business people are now establishing companies abroad to avoid the impact of the inheritance tax. The threshold for inheritance tax in Ireland was increased to over €0.5 million. Some people are trying to help out their own children with house acquisition, particularly in the metropolitan areas, which is very costly. The limit is very low.

I have a case of a person of very limited means who has come into an inheritance from their parents. It involves a property abroad, which is leased on a long-term basis, and a certain amount of cash. Most of this cash will go to pay the inheritance tax and because of the long lease on the property, all they will have is an income from the property, which will wash out the social welfare they are getting at the moment. Having got what seems like a relatively good inheritance, they will be no better off. That is very unjust. This is after-tax money that parents are giving to their children. That needs to be looked at, as does the link with grandchildren.

Similarly, the area of capital gains tax needs to be looked at. There are reports that people are moving offshore because of the implications of capital gains tax, which is now pitched at 33%. When it was at 40% there was very little income coming in and while there was criticism from some politicians when the former Minister for Finance, Deputy Charlie McCreevy, reduced it by half, to 20%, it actually doubled and trebled the take of money. At this stage, given our levels of unemployment and our need to recover from recession, we need any impetus we can get by way of investment. One way of doing that is by making it attractive for people to invest. It is not attractive at the moment. The whole system is far too complex. Many people who have incurred losses are unable to make write-offs because of the complicated nature of the accumulated capital gains tax legislation over the years. We could usefully have a debate with the Minister on that prior to the budget.