Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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129. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of participants and jobs supported by the special assignee relief programme in each year since its inception; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16420/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Section 14 of Finance Act 2012 introduced the Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP), which is designed to reduce the cost to employers of assigning key individuals in their companies from abroad to take up positions in their Irish based operations. Paragraph 10 of Section 14 provides that relevant employers must submit an annual return to the Revenue Commissioners detailing, inter alia, the number of employees and the amounts of exempt income claimed under the programme. The first year of the programme was 2012 and employer returns received to date for 2012 have provided the following results:

Numbers of employees availing of the scheme - 9;

Numbers of employers with employees availing - 8;

Number of jobs created - 5.

Further claims for SARP are provided in the Form 11 tax returns for 2012, filed by self-assessed income tax cases (2012 returns were due in October/November 2013). Based on the most recent analysis of these returns the number of individuals availing of the scheme was 6. Other information in relation to these individuals, such as numbers of employers and jobs created, is not required to be provided by taxpayers in the Form 11 tax return and is therefore not available. Corresponding figures for 2013 are not yet available.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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130. To ask the Minister for Finance the tax expenditure associated, the number of participants and jobs supported under the foreign earnings deduction scheme in each year since its inception; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16421/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Section 12 of Finance Act 2012 introduced the Foreign Earnings Deduction which provides for a limited tax deduction for individuals who temporarily carry out the duties of their office or employment in Brazil, Russia, India, China or South Africa. The provision applies as respects the years 2012, 2013 and 2014. The scheme was extended in Finance Act 2013 to include travel to Nigeria, Senegal, Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Tanzania for 2013 and 2014. 

The full year estimated cost to the Exchequer of the Foreign Earnings Deduction scheme for the 2012 tax year was €0.6 million in respect of 83 employees. Complete information in relation to 2013 returns is not yet available as the Form 11 tax returns for 2013 are not due to be filed until later this year. However, tax claims received to date for PAYE employees indicate an estimated cost of €0.05 million in respect of 8 employees.

The tax relief is claimed at the end of the tax year by the employee who has undertaken the travel. There is no reporting requirement in relation to the number of jobs supported by the incentive, however it was introduced to encourage the development of trade and exports to non-traditional markets for Irish goods and services.