Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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215. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of beneficiaries per county of the bike-to-work scheme in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56178/23]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Section 118(5G) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for the Cycle to Work scheme. This scheme, introduced in 2009, offers an exemption from benefit-in-kind (BIK) where an employer purchases a bicycle and/or associated safety equipment for one of their employees (or directors) to use, in whole or in part, to travel to work.

The scheme operates on a self-administration basis. Relief is automatically available provided the employer is satisfied that the conditions of its particular scheme meet the requirements of the legislation. This approach was taken with the deliberate intention of keeping the scheme simple and reducing administration on the part of employers. Accordingly, there are no records available on the number of people availing of the scheme or the cost of the scheme.

As employers are not obliged to notify the Revenue Commissioners of any bicycles or safety equipment which has been provided under the scheme, it is not possible to ascertain how many employees or directors have availed of the scheme in a given year or to calculate the cost of same.

Each year, the Tax Expenditure Report which is prepared by my Department, includes tentative estimates of the full year cost of the scheme and the number of claims. However, it should be noted that there is no information provided in tax returns or otherwise available to Revenue or the Department of Finance which provide data on which to base these estimates.

The following table shows the estimates for the years 2019 to 2022, the most recent year for which estimates are currently available:

The estimates were most recently revised upward, for 2021, onward as the Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (No. 2) Act 2020 increased the cost thresholds for bikes under the scheme and increased the frequency of the exemption to once every four years from once every five years.