Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 192: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance his plans to remove the €125-€250 threshold for pensioners claiming tax relief in respect of medical expenses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19718/07]

James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 197: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the reason pensioners are required to pay income tax on medical expenses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19818/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 192 and 197 together.

In relation to Deputy Bannon's question, neither pensioners, nor any other taxpayers, pay tax on medical expenses; moreover, full relief against tax payable is now available at the marginal rate applicable in relation to the tax year 2007 and subsequent years.

The de minimis amounts referred to by Deputy Naughten were abolished for all taxpayers by section 9 of the Finance Act 2007 as was the requirement that there be a defined relationship between the taxpayer and the subject of the claim.

Full details of the tax relief in respect of health expenses is contained in Revenue's Explanatory Leaflet IT 6 Health/Medical Expenses Relief available on Revenue's website www.revenue.ie which will shortly be updated to take account of the changes brought about by the provision of section 9 of the Finance Act 2007 outlined above.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 193: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will assist a person (details supplied) in Dublin 9; and if he will provide the maximum support in resolving this issue. [19750/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The essential point at issue here appears to be the tax treatment of the reimbursement of the cost of travel and taxi fares in respect of travel between home and work.

It is a long established principle of tax case law that the expenses of travelling from home to work and work to home are not expenses of travelling necessarily incurred by an employee in the performance of the duties of his/her office or employment and hence are not tax deductible. It follows from this that where the employer reimburses (directly or indirectly) the cost of travel between home and work, such reimbursement is taxable. Revenue has the same obligations as any other employer and is accordingly legally obliged to deduct tax under PAYE in respect of the cost of taxi fares paid or reimbursed and of car expenses paid.

For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that Revenue guidelines provide that the charge to tax does not arise in exceptional circumstances, e.g. where an employee is on-call to deal with certain emergencies and is called out only on an exceptional basis, or where an employee is required to work very late on an occasional basis. However, this exception could not be extended to reimbursement of expenses for travel between home and work, which is rostered, predictable and occurs on a regular basis.

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 194: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if and when changes will be made to existing DIRT regulations, particularly with regard to retired citizens with small savings; and his proposals in relation to this regulation in the future. [19803/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The position has been that individuals aged 65 years or over and individuals who are permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity from maintaining themselves, can claim a refund from DIRT where the income of the individual (inclusive of the deposit interest) is below the appropriate income exemption limit for tax purposes. In the 2007 tax year the exemption limit for a single person aged 65 or over is €19,000 per annum, and in the case of a married couple, the exemption limit is €38,000. A partial refund may be due to such individuals whose income (inclusive of the deposit interest) does not greatly exceed the appropriate income exemption limit.

The Deputy may wish to be aware that changes have recently been made in this regard to simplify arrangements considerably. The Finance Act 2007 introduced new arrangements which allow account holders whose total income does not exceed the exemption limit and are either aged 65 years of age or over or permanent incapacitated, to have any interest earned on money on deposit credited to their savings account by their Financial Institution without deduction of DIRT. Appropriate declaration forms, which are available from Financial Institutions, must be completed by the account holder and submitted to the relevant Financial Institutions to benefit from these arrangements.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 195: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if assistance and advice will be given to persons (details supplied) in Dublin 5 regarding their stamp duty query. [19804/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The Finance (No. 2) Act 2007 introduced an exemption from stamp duty for first-time buyers in accordance with the commitments made in the Programme for Government to bring about immediate change to the stamp duty code for first-time buyers.

The Programme for Government provides that deeds presented by first-time buyers to the Revenue Commissioners on or after 30 April 2007 will be exempt from stamp duty. As a deed must be presented to the Revenue Commissioners within 30 days of execution, the Act is drafted to provide for exemption for deeds executed on or after 31 March 2007.

It is customary that changes such as this are introduced with immediate effect to minimise disruption and provide certainty in the market.

Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 198: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will introduce an amendment to Section 11 192B-(1) of the Finance Act 2005 to remove the anomaly which at present discriminates between the tax treatment of host carers as against the tax treatment of foster parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19829/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I assume that what the Deputy has in mind in this case is to extend the tax exemption which applies to foster care payments to payments relating to other areas of caring such as care for those with a disability, the elderly or infirm.

The position is that children who are in foster care are in the care of the State under the Child Care Act 1991. Foster carers undertake to care for foster children on the State's behalf and as such are a unique group in unique circumstances.

The main focus of the tax exemption for foster care payments in section 192 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, as amended, is to help underpin the system of foster care services for children in support of the policy objectives set out in the National Children's Strategy (2000) and the Report of the Working Group on Foster Care (2001). The exemption is limited therefore to payments in respect of the care of foster children or former foster children.

I have no plans to extend this tax exemption to other areas.