Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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Question 213: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will increase the stamp-duty exemption thresholds for first time buyers as a matter of priority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16998/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the 2005 Budget introduced a stamp duty relieving measure for first-time house purchasers who are owner-occupiers of second-hand houses by increasing the stamp duty exemption threshold for such purchasers from €190,500 to €317,500 and by having reduced rates for house values up to €635,000.

This relieving measure assisted affordability for first time buyers and helped some first time buyers to afford a starter home who might not otherwise be able to do so. It also helped to open the second hand market more to first time buyers who had been increasingly deterred by the impact of stamp duty. The reductions in stamp duty for second hand houses removed distortion between the new and second-hand markets for first-time buyers by reducing the degree of concentration of first time buyer demand on the new house market.

I have no plans at present to introduce increased stamp duty exemptions for first-time or other purchasers. I would also point out that changes to the current stamp duty regime must be approached with caution as even minor amendments may significantly alter the dynamics of the housing market.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 214: To ask the Minister for Finance the tax free allowance for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16999/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I have been advised by the Revenue Commissioners that a Certificate of Tax Credits and Standard Rate Cut-Off Point showing a breakdown of the tax credits due will issue to the taxpayer in the coming days.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 215: To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the European Court Ruling seeking to apply VAT to the provision of back office services for the financial service sector; if he has assessed the impact of same on Irish operations providing this outsourced business; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17059/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision in the case of Arthur Andersen & Co Accountants (C-472/03), which had been referred to the ECJ by the Dutch Supreme Court, was released on 3 March 2005. The case related to the VAT exemption for insurance-related services.

The question put to the ECJ was whether certain "back office" services provided by Andersen Consulting Management Consultants (ACMC) to a life assurance company were exempt from VAT under Article 13B(a) of the EU Council Sixth VAT Directive as "related services performed by insurance brokers and insurance agents". The ECJ found that ACMC were neither insurance brokers nor insurance agents for the purposes of the VAT exemption and their services were therefore liable to VAT at the standard rate.

Although the case concerned services provided in the Netherlands, the ECJ ruling has an impact across all EU Member States. The implication of the judgment for Ireland is that the Irish VAT exemption for insurance-related services in the First Schedule to the Value-Added Tax Act 1972, as amended, is currently too broad. Implementation of the ECJ ruling would lead to VAT becoming chargeable on certain outsourced insurance-related services currently provided to insurers. Where insurers use these outsourced services to provide exempt insurance services within the EU, VAT chargeable on such services would be irrecoverable.

In the light of the ECJ ruling, the EU Commission has commenced a review of the provisions in the EU Council Sixth VAT Directive relating to financial and insurance services.

Pending the outcome of EU Commission review, the Revenue Commissioners have advised the industry that, as regards insurance related services provided in Ireland, the provisions of the exemption in the current Irish legislation will continue to apply.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 216: To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that unmarried partners with children, where only one person works are treated for income tax purposes as if they were a single person; and if he has identified changes that could be made to improve their position while respecting the constitutional requirement not to place married couples in a worse position. [17080/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Generally speaking, the tax system treats members of cohabiting couples as separate and unconnected individuals. Each partner is a separate entity for tax purposes and credits and bands and reliefs cannot be transferred from one partner to the other. There are no special favourable tax arrangements for cohabiting couples with dependent children.

The Working Group Examining the Treatment of Married, Cohabiting and One-Parent Families under the Tax and Social Welfare Codes, which reported in August 1999, was sympathetic, in principle, to changes in the tax legislation to address the issues raised relating to cohabiting couples and reported that the options that it set out should be considered further. However, it acknowledged in relation to the tax treatment of cohabiting couples that a key issue is whether tax law should proceed ahead of changes in the general law.

I am aware of various developments in this general area including: the consultation paper on the rights and duties of cohabitees which was published by the Law Reform Commission in April 2004; the Tenth Progress Report of the Oireachtas All-Party Committee on the Constitution entitled 'The Family' which was recently published earlier this year; the recent establishment by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform of a working group to examine the area of civil partnerships and to prepare options on the various legislative choices available to the Government for action in this area.

I previously put on the record of the House that I would view as problematic and unwise a situation where changes in the tax code relating to the treatment of couples would set a headline in advance of developments in other relevant areas of public policy, for example, in the area of legal recognition of relationships other than married relationships. I am still of that view.