Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 174: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the reason tax relief is not available on expenditure on psychotherapy services, even when the practitioner is registered; his estimate of the cost in a full year of extending relief to this kind of health expenditure; the last time the types of health expenditure were reviewed; the title of the report that set out this review; and if he will ensure a copy is available in the Oireachtas library. [17432/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Under Section 469 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, tax relief, under the heading of health expenses, may be claimed in respect of the services of a practitioner and in respect of diagnostic procedures carried out on the advice of a practitioner. The cost of psychotherapy sessions will qualify for tax relief where such sessions are -: the services of a practitioner; or diagnostic procedures carried out on the advice of a practitioner.For this purpose, "practitioner" means any person who is (a) registered in the register established under section 26 of the Medical Practitioners Act 1978, (b) registered in the register established under section 26 of the Dentists Act 1985, or (c) in relation to health care provided outside the State, entitled under the laws of the country in which the care is provided to practice medicine or dentistry there.

It is not possible to provide an estimate of the full year cost of extending the scope of health expenses relief to cover psychotherapy services (beyond those who may currently qualify) as such cost would depend on the extent to which the relief was utilised. In common with all tax reliefs, health expenses relief, including its scope, is reviewed on a regular basis by my Department in the context of the annual Budget and Finance Bill. Such reviews are not usually the subject of formal published reports.