Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will conclude very shortly.There is a wider issue here that goes beyond the scope of this but needs to be mentioned because it relates directly to the recommendation. It is the question of whether non-fictional books are involved. Most of the small number of people who would be excluded from this scheme had this recommendation been in place in previous years were granted the exemption in respect of books that were political memoirs. It seems that the granting of the exemption in respect of non-fiction books such as these has been a bone of contention between the Revenue Commissioners and the Arts Council, which are the bodies that manage the section 195 scheme, for more than a decade. In 2013, the Arts Council complained to Revenue that its role in this was being undermined by the tendency of Revenue to grant exemptions to "ghost written sports biographies" and "political memoirs". I think the Leas-Chathaoirleach will agree that there is not a word of repetition in what I am saying so I ask him to let me conclude this important point. The ministerial guidelines say that for non-fiction books to be considered, they should have a cultural theme such as a biography or autobiography of a writer or painter. In other words, the book must relate to art and creativity in a direct way if it is a non-fiction book such as a biography or autobiography. That shows how far we have come from the original meaning, aim and intended scope of the artist's exemption. Even then, according to the ministerial guidelines, a non-fiction book should only qualify if it is a pioneering work casting new light on its subject matter or changing the generally accepted understanding of the subject matter. That would be in the context of a biography of an artist or writer. I have to say, and I imagine most colleagues would agree with me, that it is difficult to see how political memoirs or collections of amusing political anecdotes would qualify as pioneering works that cast new light on the subject matter of politics. Political memoirs are of value to our political system since they inform the general population about matters of political and historical merit but they could hardly be described as having artistic merit so the fact that they qualify for this exemption is highly questionable. The same can be said for memoirs of sporting figures.

There appear to be broader issues about how the scheme is administered by Revenue and the Arts Council. Between 2004 and 2013, 46 appeals were made against unsuccessful applications for the exemption, of which 56% were successful. That seems to be a very high - a suspiciously high - success rate for an appeals process and it prompts its own questions. The Arts Council also provides expert opinions to Revenue in the event of an appeal. In 2013, the Arts Council complained that "all manner of appeals are upheld" and that it felt that some determinations by Revenue implied that the council considered sporting books in particular to be of artistic or cultural merit. I do not intend to be a snob about this. I get the cultural merit of sport but we are still a long way from the intention behind the artist's exemption.