Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 95: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance his view as to whether publicly funded hospitals, meaning hospitals which provide services to persons pursuant to their entitlements under Chapter II of Part IV of the Health Act 1970, are entitled to avail of the capital allowances scheme for private hospitals provided for by section 64 of the Finance Act 2001 as amended; if not, the reason for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16394/08]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the scope of the capital allowances scheme for hospitals is specifically confined to private hospitals. Section 64 of the Finance Act 2001 (now inserted as section 268 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997), which introduced the scheme, defines a qualifying hospital for capital allowance purposes as a private hospital within the meaning of the Health Insurance Act 1994 (Minimum Benefits) Regulations 1996. Regulation 3 of those Regulations in turn defines a private hospital as one which, inter alia, is not a publicly- funded hospital.

To qualify for capital allowances a private hospital must meet certain minimum capacity requirements and it must provide a range of facilities and services. As private hospitals are privately funded, the purpose of the capital allowance scheme is to attract private investment into the provision of these hospitals by means of a tax incentive.