Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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99. To ask the Minister for Finance to outline the reason the figures regarding stamp duties are 13%, or €110 million, behind year-on-year on receipts and 10.5%, or €87 million, behind profile; further to Exchequer receipts to September 2016, if he will provide a breakdown of stamp duties into residential, commercial and shares for stamp duty receipts to September 2015 and a profile for 2016 to September; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29859/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The position is that at end-September stamp duty receipts were down 13% or €110 million in year-on-year terms. However, it is important to point out that the year-on-year decrease is primarily due to the cessation of the pension levy (which accounted for €159 million of stamp duty receipts last year at end-September 2015) in December 2015.  Therefore, excluding the pension levy receipts last year, the underlying stamp duties position is showing a year-on-year improvement of c. €49 million or 7%.

In relation to the under-performance against profile at end-September 2016, this is primarily due to a combination of factors. The first relates to the fact that the 2015 receipts finished the year €52 million or 3.9% below the revised 2015 forecast set out in Budget 2016. The second reason is primarily due to a reduction in 2016 in respect of the number of share disposals, down c. €90 million or 24% against profile.

The following table provides a breakdown of stamp duties on a revenue net receipts basis into the requested components at end-September 2015 and 2016.