Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 54: To ask the Minister for Finance if he has yet received costings from the Revenue Commissioners regarding the exemption from benefit in kind tax for employer provided child-care which was abolished by the last Government; his views whether the costings justify the abolition of the exemption; if he will consider overturning the decision to abolish the exemption in view of the fact that attempts are being made to encourage persons back into the workplace; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33778/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The provision of certain free or subsidised childcare facilities by employers were exempt from a benefit-in-kind charge on the employees that availed of such facilities. This exemption was abolished in Budget and Finance Act 2011. With a view to keeping the scheme simple and reducing administration on the part of employers, there was no notification procedure for employers involved. Accordingly, the Revenue Commissioners do not have separately identifiable costs or statistics for the scheme. It was estimated at the time of Budget 2011 that its abolition would yield €3 million to the Exchequer in 2011 and €6 million in a full year.

The relief was introduced in 1999 to encourage employers to invest in childcare facilities and thus increase the overall supply of childcare places. At the time of its introduction, there was a scarcity of childcare places and the costs associated with childcare were increasing. The aim of the exemption was to encourage employers who were not traditionally associated with the provision of childcare to provide such facilities for their employees.

Cost was not the only factor that was taken into account when the decision was taken to abolish the exemption. Indeed, the Commission on Taxation recommended the abolition of this exemption, citing equity, due to the likelihood that only large employers would have the ability to make the necessary investments.

Notwithstanding the abolition of this relief, a number of other support measures are in place to ease the burden on working parents. These include the Community Childcare Subvention (CCS) programme, which funds community childcare services to enable them to charge reduced childcare fees to qualifying parents, the Childcare Education and Training Support (CETS) programme which provides free childcare places to qualifying FAS and VEC trainees and the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme which provides for a free pre-school year for children in the year before commencing primary school. Generous entitlements to paid and unpaid maternity leave as well as child benefit payments are also provided.

In addition to the above supports, an exemption from income tax for individuals who mind children in their own home is also available. To avail of this scheme, the childminder concerned may not mind more than 3 children, excluding their own. This income exemption is subject to a limit of €15,000 per annum.

In view of the availability of all of the above-mentioned supports, I have no plans to re-introduce the benefit-in-kind exemption.