Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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89. To ask the Minister for Finance if he has plans to review the criteria for the incapacitated child tax credit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11376/23]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The legislation governing entitlement to the incapacitated child tax credit is contained in section 465 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, as amended. The legislation provides that an individual is entitled to a tax credit of €3,300 per qualifying child for a year of assessment if he or she proves that at any time during the year of assessment, he or she has a child who is:

- under 18 years of age and is permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity, or

- if over the age of 18 years at the beginning of the year, is permanently incapacitated from maintaining himself/herself and had become so permanently incapacitated either before reaching 21 years of age or after that age while receiving full-time instruction at any university, college, school or other educational establishment.

A child under 18 is regarded as permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity only if that infirmity is such that, if the child were over 18, there would be a reasonable expectation that he or she would be incapacitated from maintaining himself or herself.

For the purposes of the credit, “maintaining” means the ability to support oneself by earning a living from working. Where the child is under 18, the incapacity must be such that, even with the benefit of any treatment, device, medication or therapy, the child is unlikely to be able to maintain themselves when he or she reaches 18.

In order to establish entitlement to the credit in respect of any such child, medical evidence provided by the child’s medical practitioner is required to confirm both the extent of the incapacity and whether the incapacity permanently prevents the child from being able, in the long term, to maintain himself or herself independently when over the age of 18 years.

Detailed information on the operation of the tax credit is available on Revenue’s website at: www.revenue.ie/en/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/children/incapacitated-child-credit/index.aspx

It is noted that this credit applies in addition to other various supports from other parts of Government, including the Department of Social Protection, the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Disability, Equality and Integration that assist those with caring responsibilities. I also note that, in its 2009 report, the former Commission on Taxation recommended for reasons of equity that, ultimately, “the appropriate level of State support be provided to all incapacitated children through direct expenditure and that the tax credit be discontinued”. Such a course of action would obviously require very careful consideration and is not on the agenda at the present time. Equally, while tax measures are monitored by my Department as a matter of course, currently I do not have plans for a detailed review of this credit.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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90. To ask the Minister for Finance when the next departmental tax expenditure evaluation will be published on the research and development tax credit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10598/23]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The R&D tax credit was reviewed in 2022, along with the Knowledge Development Box (KDB). The review was published on Budget day as part of the Budget 2023 Report on Tax Expenditures, and is available on the Budget 2023 website at the following link:www.gov.ie/en/publication/ccc22-budget-2023-taxation-measures/

A public consultation process was also held as part of that review. Twenty-one responses to the public consultation were received from a range of respondents, including companies, advisory firms, and Government Departments. These submissions were published and are available at the following link:www.gov.ie/en/consultation/d12cb-public-consultation-on-the-research-development-tax-credit-and-the-knowledge-development-box-april-2022/

Under the Tax Expenditure Guidelines, it is expected that the R&D tax credit will be reviewed again in 2026.