Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Finance Bill and congratulate the Minister. It is one of the first times that Deputy Chambers has addressed the House as Minister. I compliment him on bringing forward the Bill. In general, I welcome the Bill but there are one or two things the Minister might address. Hopefully, he will be back as Minister for Finance whenever the next Government is formed. I welcome the tax relief for film and writing, which is wonderful. In Limerick, where I am from, the old Dell site was formerly Troy Studios. There used to be a regional uplift that helped to bring people into the regions for film production. While it is wonderful that the tax relief is there, that regional uplift would put Limerick on a par with places like Dublin and Wicklow. The cost of moving everything to another site can be prohibitive and it makes production more expensive. For the future, this is something the Minister might look at.

With regard to young farmers, I welcome that succession planning is very much part of the Bill. It has been an ongoing issue for many years and the farming community was certainly looking for its inclusion.

On housing, where couples are availing of affordable housing and there is a delay between their application and local authority approval, it is important that they do not lose out. Many people are availing of the help-to-buy scheme and it is a good news story that it is now extended to 2029.

With regard to pensions, I agree with Senator Craughwell that some public servants fall into the category where the rate of PRSI they paid at the time does not give them an entitlement to things like glasses or hearing and eye tests. This needs to be looked at. Money was taken from public sector pensions at a time when Ireland was at an all-time low financially but the pensions of some of those people have not been restored. The Minister might look at this for the long run. I understand more than 37,000 people are affected, including those who worked in laboratories, hospitals, local authorities and across the different sectors. In this day and age, when we have the money, it could be looked at for the long term. I accept that changes will not be put in place today.

I welcome that the USC is coming down. Is it the aim that it will eventually be eliminated? There was a promise in the past that we would work towards that. Nonetheless, it is good news that it is being brought down. The personal tax credit has also been changed and from speaking to young families, I know many have benefited.

The relief for businesses is welcome, especially for start-ups. Many companies will benefit. While I know this is not dealt with in the Bill, some companies cannot avail of business grants or energy credits if they are behind with their payments or on a payment plan. This should be looked at. If people are making the effort to pay, they should be able to avail of the grant. I welcome that the 9% rate has been applied to gas and oil. In the long term, I would love to see the 9% rate being looked at again for hospitality because we have seen recently that many hospitality businesses are closing, and it also affects hairdressers. It is just a thought that I will leave with the Minister for the future.

Overall, this is a very welcome Finance Bill. It tries to help all sectors of society, including families, older people, farmers and businesspeople.That is what the Government is about - working with people. Sometimes there are those little anomalies where one size does not fit all. Maybe it is something we could look at in the future, but overall, I commend the Bill to the House.