Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 53: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will report on the work of the Revenue Commissioners in monitoring the use of Section 50 Finance Act 1999 that provides tax relief to developers of student accommodation; if he will further report on the number of Section 50 residences that have been found to be inhabited by non-students and the number of developers that have been challenged on same under the anti-avoidance programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24941/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that they are not aware of any significant abuses of the so-called "Section 50" scheme of relief for the construction of student accommodation. However, Revenue have noted recent newspaper reports of claims made by the Union of Students in Ireland that some Section 50 apartments are being let to non-students during college terms. I am informed that Revenue have followed up with the person making the claim and will be meeting the USI shortly to discuss their concerns. If there is evidence of abuse in this area, I am assured that Revenue will take appropriate action.

There are no figures available for the number of the 14,000 or so Revenue audits carried out in 2005 that looked specifically at claims under the "Section 50" scheme of relief. While no cases appear to have been specifically selected for audit in this area, Revenue are aware that, in the normal course of audit in 2005, a small number of cases were in fact examined where the relief had been claimed. In the particular cases examined there was no evidence to suggest that the guidelines were not complied with or that the relief had been abused.