Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 184: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the number of people who have availed of tax relief for childminders minding children at home; the breakdown of the counties they come from; the estimated cost of the tax relief to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6299/08]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The statistics requested by the Deputy are not yet available. It is understood from the Revenue Commissioners that data derived from the income tax returns for 2006 are currently being compiled in relation to this and other areas and will become available in the coming months.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 185: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he has made provisions to ensure that imported second hand cars are subject to the new emissions based VRT regime; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6300/08]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Under the revised VRT system, the VRT rate applicable to both new and used imported cars registered on or after 1 July 2008 will be determined by the CO2 emission rating of the car and will no longer be related to engine size. As outlined in Annex D to the Summary of 2008 Budget Measures, in respect of pre-owned used cars imported after 1 July 2008, the CO2 emissions will have to be declared to the Revenue Commissioners on form VRT4 (declaration for registration of a used vehicle) by the person registering the vehicle.

The declaration will be required to be supported by documentary evidence of the CO2 emissions. Acceptable documentary evidence (provided the CO2 emissions is shown) will include:

a certificate of conformity for the particular model, (since 2001, EU law requires CO2 emission levels to be recited in this document),

or a previous registration certificate, or

a certificate from the manufacturer or distributor, or

a certificate from an organisation approved by the Revenue Commissioners to provide such certificates.

Where a certificate or a measurement confirming CO2 levels for a vehicle is not available or does not satisfy the Revenue Commissioners, VRT will be charged on registration at the maximum rate allowable i.e. 36%. Such a VRT rating would be open to appeal through the VRT appeals system.

Legislative provision for the revised VRT system will be included in the Finance Bill and further details regarding registration procedures and requirements will be set out in a Statutory Instrument.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 186: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the number of psychiatric hospitals and mental health centres that have applied for recognition under the Finance Act 2008 for the purposes of obtaining tax relief for the development of such facilities;the cost of this measure in terms of tax foregone to date; the projected cost of any such application under consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6301/08]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I assume the Deputy is referring to the scheme of capital allowances for expenditure incurred on the construction and refurbishment of qualifying mental health centres which was introduced by me in the 2006 Finance Act and commenced in January 2007. It is intended that the scheme will operate on broadly the same terms and conditions as already apply in the case of the similar relief for general private hospitals. Among the conditions that must be satisfied if a mental health facility is to qualify for tax relief under the scheme is that the facility is an approved centre (i.e. registered under the Mental Health Act, 2001) and that it must have a minimum of 20 in-patient beds. As I mentioned in my 2006 Budget speech , the scheme is estimated to cost €2 million in a full year. Preliminary data on the scheme at aggregate level derived from 2007 personal tax returns, to be returned in November 2008 via the Revenue on-line System (ROS), should become available from early 2009.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 187: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the number of private hospitals that have applied for recognition under the Finance Act 2008 for the purposes of obtaining tax relief for the development of such facilities; the cost of this measure in terms of tax foregone to date; the projected cost of any such application under consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6302/08]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I assume that the Deputy is referring to the scheme of capital allowances for private hospitals which was introduced in the Finance Act 2002. I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that information on the scheme of tax relief for private hospitals was for the first time specified and separately included in personal income tax returns for the tax year 2004, which were due for filing in October, 2005. No specific Revenue information on the cost of the scheme is available for the tax year 2002 (when the scheme of relief for private hospitals was introduced) or for 2003. Based on the information that has been received and collated to date for the tax year 2004, there were 37 claims for €4.5 million capital allowances for the construction of private hospitals. This figure would correspond to a maximum Exchequer cost of the order of €1.9 million for these returns in terms of income tax foregone.

Corresponding data available for the tax year 2005 indicates that there were 60 claims for €7.7 million capital allowances for the construction of buildings used for private hospitals. This figure would correspond to a maximum Exchequer cost of the order of €3.2 million for these returns in terms of income tax foregone. Corresponding data based on 2006 returns is in the process of being compiled and is not yet available.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 188: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the number of private nursing homes that have applied for recognition under the Finance Act 2008 for the purposes of obtaining tax relief for the development of such facilities; the cost of this measure in terms of tax foregone to date; the projected cost of any such application under consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6303/08]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I assume that the Deputy is referring to the scheme of capital allowances for capital expenditure on registered nursing homes which was introduced in 1997. I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that information on the scheme of tax relief for registered nursing homes was for the first time specified and separately included in personal income tax returns for the tax year 2004, which were due for filing in October, 2005. No specific Revenue information on the cost of the scheme is available for the tax year 2003 or previous years. Based on the information that has been received and collated to date for the tax year 2004, there were 287 claims for €16.6 million capital allowances for the construction of nursing homes. This figure would correspond to a maximum Exchequer cost of the order of €7 million for these returns in terms of income tax and corporation tax foregone.

Corresponding data available for the tax year 2005 indicates that there were 498 claims for €30.3 million capital allowances for the construction of nursing homes. This figure would correspond to a maximum Exchequer cost of the order of €12.4 million for these returns in terms of income tax foregone. Corresponding data based on 2006 returns is in the process of being compiled and is not yet available.

As regards projected costs, there is no system of prior application and approval under the scheme of tax relief for the construction or refurbishment of registered nursing homes. When the relevant facilities have been completed, and provided they meet the necessary criteria, investors can then claim tax relief on the expenditure incurred under the scheme in their annual income tax returns as part of the self-assessment system. All returns are subject to check and possible audit to ensure that, among other things, the tax relief is correctly claimed.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 189: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will confirm that training provided by an employer in the context of skills development for an existing job is not treated as a benefit in kind by the Revenue Commissioners, that training provided for any future employment, including where this is an element of a redundancy package, is considered to a be a BIK having implications for the recipient of the training, including those who are about to be made redundant; the BIK charges applicable in respect of training for future employment in the case of impending redundancy; the amount of this category of tax charged for each year from 2005 to date in 2008; if he has received representations from parties involved in redundancy negotiations in relation to this matter; if he will examine the disparity in the tax treatment of such training; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6304/08]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that training provided by an employer in the context of skills development of an employee of that employer — be it for the employee's current or future role with that employer — is not treated as giving rise to a taxable emolument where the training undertaken is relevant to the business of the employer. I am further informed by the Revenue Commissioners that where re-training is linked to a redundancy setting, and forms part and parcel of an overall redundancy package, then the normal tax rules relating to redundancy payments apply.

When making returns to Revenue of benefits-in-kind and other non-cash benefits provided by them to their employees, employers are not required to identify the different types of benefit. There is, therefore, no basis for estimating the yield to the Exchequer from treating training provided for any future employment as a taxable emolument. As far as I am aware, my Department has not received any representations from parties involved in redundancy negotiations in relation to this matter.

Niall Collins (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 190: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance if he will advise in relation to an application by a person (details supplied) in County Limerick for a C2 certificate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6305/08]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I have been advised by the Revenue Commissioners that a C2 application was received for the person in question on 10 December 2007. The C2 application was examined and the tax affairs of the applicant for the tax years 2005, 2006 and 2007 were reviewed in accordance with the legislation. As a result of this review, Revenue were in contact with the applicant concerning registration for income tax and subsequently additional information was requested from this person's tax agent on 5 February 2008. This information has not as yet been received. The C2 application will again be considered on receipt of the requested information.