Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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189. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of persons that availed of the special assignee relief programme, SARP, per annum. [23430/18]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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190. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to review the special assignee relief programme, SARP,; and his further plans to allow the partner of those that qualify for SARP to work. [23431/18]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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191. To ask the Minister for Finance the way in which the special assignee relief programme, SARP, compares internationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23432/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 189 to 191, inclusive, together.

The table sets out the number of claimants for the Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP) for each of the years 2012 to 2015, the most recent year for which figures are available:

I am advised by Revenue that its SARP report for 2016 is likely to be published in June.

As the Deputy may be aware, my Department formally reviewed SARP in 2014. That report can be found at:.

On foot of the review, SARP was extended to include assignees arriving in the country up to and including 2020. However, as with all such time limited incentives, my Department keeps SARP under review at all times.

In addition, as part of the review, a comparison was undertaken of SARP with similar schemes in France, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The findings of that comparison can be found at pages 18 to 20 of the review.

Finally, the eligibility of non-EU/EEA citizens to work in Ireland is a matter in the first instance for the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation.

As the Deputy will be aware, those partners of SARP recipients who are citizens of the EU/EEA can in any case avail of the free movement of labour provisions in European law.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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192. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of claims made under section 285A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, as enacted by section 46 of the Finance Act 2008; the cost for wind turbines, CHP, cooling equipment, solar, heat pumps and so on; the annual cost; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23479/18]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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193. To ask the Minister for Finance the cost of the three largest claims made under section 285A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 as enacted by section 46 of the Finance Act 2008; the type of projects to which they applied; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23480/18]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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194. To ask the Minister for Finance if a cost-benefit analysis has been prepared of the relief provided under section 285A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 as enacted by section 46 of the Finance Act 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23481/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 192 to 194, inclusive, together.

A review of the Accelerated Capital Allowances scheme for Energy Efficient Equipment was undertaken by my Department in 2017, ahead of Budget 2018. This scheme is regularly reviewed, in line with the Department of Finance’s 2014 Tax Expenditure Guidelines. The 2017 review of the scheme is available at the following link: .

I am advised by Revenue that the information on tax returns is not captured in such a way as to provide the breakdown by category of equipment as requested. Nonetheless, the overall cost and number of taxpayers availing of the scheme is as follows:

Information concerning the overall numbers claiming and tax cost are available at:, under the heading ‘Capital Allowances Used (Energy Efficient Capital Allowance only)’.

Due to the obligation on Revenue to protect the confidentiality of taxpayer information, and the small number of taxpayers involved, information on the three largest claims cannot be provided.