Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for tabling amendments Nos. 5 to 9, inclusive, to section 18, which are being taken together. Section 18 requires the controller to report annually to the Minister on this scheme. Amendment No. 5 in the name of Senator Mac Lochlainn seeks that the report by the controller is to the Dáil instead of to the Minister.

Amendment No. 6 in the name of Senators Higgins and Ruane seeks to have the report made publicly available. The annual report by the controller to the Minister will provide statistical information on the office's activity on the KDB scheme including, numbers of KDB applications filed, applications withdrawn, KDB certificates granted, refused or reviewed. The process before the controller is one step in the process for a company to apply to the Revenue Commissioners for the 6.25% corporate tax rate.

The fact that a company might be successful in getting a certificate from the office does not mean that the company will be successful in qualifying for the lower corporate tax rate when it applies to the Revenue Commissioners. Given that the information contained in the report is limited and is part of a wider process, it is considered appropriate that the controller should report to the Minister as opposed to the Dáil and for this information not to be publicly disclosed. For that reason I do not accept amendments Nos. 5 and 6.

In relation to amendment No. 7 in the name of Senator Mac Lochlainn, I should point out that the controller is an independent officeholder who acts under the superintendence and direction of the Minister. The provision in section 18(2) is a necessary safeguard that allows the controller to undertake his or her statutory functions without undue and inappropriate interference by any Minister. Senator Mac Lochlainn's amendment would undermine the independence of the controller in carrying out his or her statutory functions under the Bill. The controller must be able to undertake this function without fear of interference. For that reason, I am not accepting amendment No. 7.

Amendment No. 8 which is also in the name of Senator Mac Lochlainn seeks the inclusion of the name of applicants for the KDB scheme in the report to the Minister. The names of applicants are not included in the controller’s annual reports of his or her activities for the office covering patents, trade marks and designs. Section 18 of the Bill follows this practice. Moreover, as Senators will be aware, the Revenue Commissioners do not disclose the identity of taxpayers and indeed the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 prevents Revenue from releasing taxpayer information. For that reason I am not accepting amendment No. 8.

As regards amendment No. 9 in the name of Senators Higgins and Ruane it is the case that applications before the office will be examined individually on the basis of novelty, usefulness and non-obviousness. In the case of refusals, the office will follow exactly the same process as it does now in relation to refusals of patents, trademarks or designs. The reasons for refusal are case-specific and are not made publicly available and that is the intention also in this Bill. For those reasons I am not accepting amendment No. 9.