Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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273. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will re-consider the envisaged tax cuts pledged for budget 2016, given that, according to data from the International Monetary Fund's Fiscal Monitor, Government expenditure is already one of the lowest in the European Union; if he has concerns about the implications of this proposed tax reduction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33285/15]

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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274. To ask the Minister for Finance if he is satisfied that his recent pledge of a cut of at least 1% to the universal social charge is a prudent decision for the upcoming budget; if he will reconsider this measure with a view to investing the tax collected in the public services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33286/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 273 and 274 together.

The Deputy is correct that Ireland's general government expenditure at 39% of GDP in 2014 is lower than the EU-28 average of 46.2%.

While fiscal capacity determines expenditure capacity and GDP is generally taken as the appropriate indicator of fiscal capacity, in view of the exceptional gap between GDP and Gross National Product (GNP) in Ireland, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) have argued that a more appropriate measure of Irish fiscal capacity is a hybrid measure taking GNP plus 40 per cent of the gap between GDP and GNP. Calculated on this basis, general government expenditure rises to 44.4%. This is marginally below the EU average identified above and in the middle of the distribution of values for all EU countries.

In terms of allocating the fiscal space available between expenditure and revenue, a careful balance must be struck between accommodating current expenditure pressures and encouraging growth in the economy over the medium term to ensure that the economy will be in a position to support future demographic pressures as they arise.

I believe that the right balance can be achieved by allocating the available resources equally between expenditure on public services and tax measures to encourage economic growth. As part of the tax package, I intend to continue to make it more attractive to return to work, to stay in work and to ensure that work rewards individuals adequately. I plan to reduce the tax burden on low and middle income earners in the upcoming budget and subsequent budgets, subject to having the required fiscal space.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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275. To ask the Minister for Finance if he has considered putting measures in place in the budget to ensure that developers who have exited the National Asset Management Agency without repaying their debts will not benefit from property-related tax breaks and write-offs in development levies owed to the local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33287/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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NAMA's statutory objectives are clearly defined in the NAMA Act 2009 (NAMA Act). Section 10 of the NAMA Act requires NAMA to obtain the best achievable financial return for the State, deal expeditiously with the assets acquired by it and to protect or otherwise enhance the value of those assets. The Agency seeks to achieve this in every instance and, therefore, when a debtor "exits", NAMA will have determined that NAMA has fulfilled its requirements under Section 10 of the Act in securing the best achievable financial return for the State.

In addition, I wish to advise the Deputy that the use of property-related tax breaks has been significantly curtailed in recent years. Section 17 of the Finance Act 2012 was enacted with the intention of reducing the legacy of property reliefs in line with Government policy to develop a fairer tax code. The provisions of section 17 (now contained in Chapter 4A of Part 12 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997) apply to the various accelerated property and area-based capital allowance schemes. With effect from the beginning of 2015 any unused accelerated capital allowances, which are carried forward beyond the tax life of the expenditure on the building or structure to which they relate, are immediately lost. This essentially means that if the tax life has ended at any time up to the end of 2014, then the unused allowances are lost in 2015.  On the other hand if the tax life is due to end later than 2014, the allowances are lost after the end of the tax life of the expenditure. Additionally, these measures apply solely to passive investors. Persons who are actively engaged in their respective trades are not affected.

By comparison to older property-related tax breaks, the Living City Initiative was constructed so that it would be available to owner-occupiers and not developers.

Queries with regard to development levies are a matter for the relevant local authorities and my colleague, the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government, Alan Kelly T.D.

Finally, it is important to note that the tax system cannot target specific taxpayers in the way that the Deputy is suggesting.