John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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117. To ask the Minister for Finance if his Department has explored applying a relief similar to the United Kingdom’s entrepreneurs' relief; the cost of implementing same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19267/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, my Department carried out a review of the Employment and Investment Incentive (EII) and Seed Capital Scheme (SCS) in advance of the recent Budget. Part of that review included a public consultation process. A report on this review was published on Budget Day and is available on the Budget website.

One of the options considered in the review was the introduction of a scheme similar to the UK EIS as there is a perception that the UK scheme is far more generous than the EII. However, the level of relief available under the UK scheme of 30% is less than the EII which provides up to 40% relief. The main advantage of the UK scheme appears to be the availability of CGT relief.

I would point out that I have introduced a scheme for entrepreneurs where CGT liability is deferred if they re-invest qualifying gains made in a company into another company.

As a result of the review carried out on the EII and SCS, I decided to make some amendments to the schemes. The EII will be amended as follows:

- The annual company limit is being increased from €2.5 million to €5 million and the lifetime limit from €10 million to €15 million;

- The minimum holding period for shares is being increased by 1 year to 4 years;

- Medium-sized companies in non-assisted areas will be included;

- Internationally traded financial services where certified by Enterprise Ireland will qualify;

- Hotels, guest houses and self-catering accommodation will remain eligible for a further 3 years; and

- The operating and managing of nursing homes will be included for 3 years.

These measures are subject to approval from the European Commission.

The SCS has been re-branded as "Start-Up Relief for Entrepreneurs" (SURE), which Minister Bruton and I launched last week. The scheme has been simplified and will be advertised and marketed by Local Enterprise Offices.