Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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81. To ask the Minister for Finance his Department's progress on the creation of a knowledge box tax incentive for intellectual property; the estimated cost of such a measure in terms of revenue to be forgone; if his Department has evaluated, or will evaluate, the incentive in terms of international human rights principles; if so, the nature of such evaluation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22827/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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In Budget 2015, I introduced a new Road Map for Ireland's Tax Competitiveness to update the objectives set out in the 2013 International Tax Strategy, and to set out a clear path for this country's tax competitiveness into the future.  The Road Map set out a comprehensive package of measures designed to reposition Ireland to reap the benefits of sustainable foreign direct investment in a changing international tax landscape.

The Knowledge Development Box or KDB which the Deputy has asked about was one of the measures announced in this Road Map. 

I view the Knowledge Development Box as a positive measure for Ireland.  It is recognised internationally that investment and growth in OECD economies is increasingly driven by knowledge-based investment, which is related to research and development and intellectual property.  Putting in place an attractive tax offering for developing and commercially exploiting intellectual property is therefore important to encourage companies to develop their knowledge-based capital in Ireland, and for our continued success in attracting foreign direct investment into Ireland.

A public consultation to gather views on how the KDB should operate was held by my Department earlier this year.  The consultation paper invited submissions from interested parties on their views of how the KDB should be designed to ensure that it meets the key objective of being the most competitive in class, within the agreed international parameters for fair tax competition in this area.  

This consultation went well with active engagement and, as is the case with all public consultations that have been undertaken by my Department on corporation tax, input was welcomed from all sections of society.  This process also included engagement with other Government agencies and Departments, including the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland.  Nearly 40 written submissions were received, which will be published in due course.  

The results of the consultation will feed into the broader development of the KDB which will be published as part of Finance Bill 2015 later this year.

Last year, my Department developed and published new guidelines that will determine the appropriate evaluation of tax expenditures and reliefs.  This is the appropriate benchmark for the evaluation of the KDB.  These guidelines can be viewed at the following link: