Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Question 84: To ask the Minister for Finance if disabled driver VRT exemption qualification criteria will be widened to include passengers with Down's syndrome; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10684/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme provides relief from VAT and Vehicle Registration Tax (up to a certain limit), and exemption from motor tax, on the purchase of an adapted car for transport of a person with specific severe and permanent physical disabilities. The disability criteria for these concessions are set out in the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Regulations 1994. To get a Primary Medical Certificate, an applicant must be permanently and severely disabled within the terms of these Regulations. Some 13,500 people benefited under the scheme in 2010 at an overall estimated cost of €55 million. I have no plans to widen the exemption qualification criteria.

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 85: To ask the Minister for Finance the measures he intends to bring forward regarding mortgage interest relief for the categories of principal residence, second homes and investment properties; the distinction between a second home and an investment property; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10186/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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There is a commitment in the Programme for Government to help homeowners in distress to weather the recession. One of these proposals relates to increasing mortgage interest relief to 30% for First Time Buyers who bought between 2004 and 2008 and to finance this in part by abolishing mortgage interest relief for new buyers from June 2011.

When this proposal has been thoroughly examined and analysed and the findings and recommendations are presented to me, I will decide on the appropriate action to be taken. However, it is unlikely that any measures will be introduced before Budget 2012. I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the terms "second home" and "investment property" are not defined in the tax code for mortgage interest tax relief purposes and, as such, it is not possible to be definitive on the distinction between the two. However, in so far as a second home is generally understood to refer to a property that an individual uses as a home but which is not his or her principal private residence - for example, a holiday home or an apartment used by family members during the academic year - there is no provision in the tax code for interest relief on loans to acquire or improve a second home and I have no plans to introduce any new interest tax relief for this category.

In so far as a residential investment property is generally understood to be a property from which the owner seeks to derive profits through lettings, a deduction is allowed (subject to certain conditions) for interest on borrowed money employed in the purchase, improvement or repair of the premises concerned. However, for interest accruing on or after 7 April 2009, the deduction is restricted to 75% of the interest otherwise allowable. Like all proposals for new tax or expenditure measures, this will fall to be considered in the context of the ongoing development of budgetary and economic policy. I would add that the status of a property for tax purposes can vary over time. For example, a second home in use during the academic year might be let at other times of the year. Alternatively, a letting by an individual of a room in his/her principle residence would not give rise to a restriction of mortgage interest relief where the letting is under the rent-a-room scheme.

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 86: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will confirm that support for Irish produced bio-fuel E85 has been discontinued; if he will introduce future support for this fuel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10188/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Biofuel (Mineral Oil Tax) Relief scheme that was operated by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources provided for excise relief for 16 companies selected by means of an open competitive process. The scheme ran for around five years and ended on 31 December 2010. Consequently, with effect from 1 January 2011, all biofuels, including E85, are subject to full mineral oil tax rates; however, unlike conventional fuels, biofuels are exempt from the carbon charge. The promotion of biofuel is primarily a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

The National Biofuel Obligation, which is operated by the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA), is now the Government's means of supporting the use of biofuel in the future. The National Biofuel Obligation requires suppliers of road transport fuels to ensure that 4% of their volumes sold on the Irish market is biofuel; it will underpin delivery of the national biofuel target and will take full account of EU biofuels policy, including the sustainability criteria. Experience in Ireland and elsewhere has shown that short-term fiscal measures cannot provide sufficient certainty to producers, and that only an obligation type system can ensure that Ireland seizes the opportunity to take advantage of biofuel, and that the considerable opportunities for the indigenous production of biofuel are exploited .