Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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57. To ask the Minister for Finance his intentions regarding Recommendation 16.1 of the report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare; the steps he intends to take to ensure adequate evaluation data on tax expenditures are collected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10378/23]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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58. To ask the Minister for Finance his intentions regarding Recommendation 16.3 of the report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare; his intentions in relation to the retrospective inclusion of sunset clauses for existing tax expenditures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10379/23]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 57 and 58 together.

The Commission on Taxation and Welfare was an independent group that was established in April 2021 as a result of a commitment in the Programme for Government. It was asked to independently consider how best the taxation and welfare systems can support economic activity, and promote increased employment and prosperity while ensuring that there are sufficient resources available to meet the costs of the public services and supports in the medium and longer term.

‘Foundations for the Future’, the Report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare, was published on 14 September 2022. It is a wide ranging report that contains over 500 pages and 116 recommendations relating to the future of our taxation and welfare systems. This includes several recommendations in relation to Tax Expenditures, including ensuring the availability of adequate data and the insertion of retrospective sunset clauses, which my officials are currently examining.

As the Deputy is aware, it is clearly set out in the Commission’s report that the recommendations are not intended to be implemented all at once, but rather provide a clear direction of travel for this and future Governments around how the sustainability of the taxation and welfare systems may be improved in a fair and equitable manner.

My Department is currently working on updating the Guidelines for Tax Expenditure Evaluation, with particular focus on the recommendations set out in chapter 16 of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare report; which includes the area of evaluation and sunset clauses. The updated guidelines will form the basis for reviews and material for the annual report on tax expenditures which is typically published with the Budget papers every year.