Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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182. To ask the Minister for Finance if it is possible to introduce a service cheque (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59919/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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My understanding is that the service cheque scheme to which the details supplied refer, operates primarily by way of direct expenditure subsidy rather than as a tax expenditure measure (albeit that there is an element of a tax refund involved in the example cited).

In addition, I believe that schemes of this nature may be directed a range of different social objectives: health care, social care or labour force activation, for example.

Accordingly, it would seem that the introduction of a service cheque scheme along the lines outlined would, in the first instance, be a matter for the relevant line Minister, possibly in consultation with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, rather than for me as Minister for Finance.

The question of additional support through the tax system for any such scheme would then need to be evaluated against the framework of the Department of Finance Tax Expenditure Guidelines. These guidelines state that any policy proposal which involves tax expenditures should only occur in limited circumstances, for example, where there are demonstrable market failures.