Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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SMEs are the foundation underpinning the Irish economy, accounting for the majority of employment in the State. Their vital importance to our economy is reflected in our Programme for Government commitments.

My Department has been proactive in supporting SMEs by introducing and enhancing a number of taxation measures which help small businesses access investment, scale-up and expand. Measures include the section 486C relief for certain start-up companies; the Key Employee Engagement Programme (KEEP); the Employment Investment Incentive (EII); the Start-Up Relief for Entrepreneurs (SURE); and the Start-Up Capital Investment (SCI). Further information on these incentives is available on the Revenue website at www.revenue.ie.

These tax incentives have undergone significant change in recent years following reviews and feedback from stakeholders, in particular the SME community.

Notwithstanding the number of tax incentives and supports available to SMEs, I am committed to continuing to keep the current suite of enterprise tax measures under review to ensure that they are working properly, and fulfilling their potential for our economy, in line with my Department’s guidelines on Tax Expenditures.

As the Deputy will be aware, it is a longstanding practice that the Minister for Finance does not comment, in advance of the Budget, on any tax matters that might be the subject of Budget decisions.