Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On this issue, I welcome this initiative. While I agree with some of what Senator Higgins said, publicly quoted companies often have their own individual employee share initiatives where employees can buy shares at a lower rate than those quoted on the market. That is a good initiative because it promotes employee engagement with the company and longevity in terms of the employee staying with the company. It also promotes the company in treating the employees in a fairer and more equitable way. It improves the effectiveness and efficiency of companies and the corporate governance of companies also.

The tax forgone is one issue to the employee but that will be caught on the other side through capital gains tax. While one may be forgoing one's employee tax, one will be caught eventually because the minute one tries to take the money out of the share, presumably one will have to pay one's capital gains tax, which is around the 33% mark. If there is no incentive for the employee, whether a tax saving or otherwise, why would they bother with this scheme? There must be an incentive. I believe it is a good scheme.

In terms of the transparency aspect of Senator Higgins's recommendation, I do not see any issue with that. Having transparency around these issues is always welcome and that is the thrust of her recommendation, but I would be interested to hear if the Minister has anything further to say.