Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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118. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 32 of 29 June 2017, the tax reliefs not included in that reply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32137/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I understand that Parliamentary Question number 32 of 29 June 2017, answered by my colleague, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, concerned the annual cost to the State of securing new jobs through foreign direct investment.

Tax reliefs are generally available to all undertakings and not specifically targeted at FDI companies. Therefore it is not possible to separately identify the tax reliefs claimed by such companies.

One tax relief that may be of interest to companies providing FDI to Ireland is the Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP). However, it may or may not be utilised by FDI companies and therefore its cost cannot be directly linked to the cost of securing foreign direct investment jobs.

The Revenue Commissioners produce an annual report on the cost and uptake of SARP, which includes detail on its operation as well as an analysis of the number of jobs supported by the scheme. These reports are available at the following link:

SARP reduces the cost to employers of assigning key individuals in their companies from abroad to take up positions in the Irish based operations of the employer. In Budget 2017 SARP was extended until the end of 2020 in order to provide certainty for potential investors in Ireland following on from the UK vote to leave the European Union. The scheme gives qualifying key assignees that are appointed to roles in Ireland, an exemption from income tax on 30% of salary in excess of €75,000 for a maximum of 5 years. However, USC and PRSI generally remain chargeable on all of the relevant income.

In order to qualify for SARP, an assignee must have been employed by the company in a country with which Ireland has a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) or a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) immediately prior to their assignment to Ireland. They must be tax resident in Ireland in the relevant tax year in order to qualify for SARP and must have been employed abroad by the relevant employer for a minimum of 6 months.