Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Section 469 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for tax relief where an individual proves that he or she has incurred costs in respect of qualifying health expenses.

Only "health expenses" incurred in the provision of “health care”, which has been carried out or advised by (in certain circumstances) a practitioner, will qualify for tax relief.

Health care is defined as the “prevention, diagnosis, alleviation or treatment of an ailment, injury, infirmity, defect or disability”.

Health expenses are defined as “expenses in respect of the provision of health care” and may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• the services of a practitioner,
• diagnostic procedures carried out on the advice of a practitioner,
• maintenance or treatment necessarily incurred in connection with the services of a practitioner or diagnostic procedures carried out on the advice of a practitioner, and
• drugs or medicines supplied on the prescription of a practitioner.

A practitioner is defined as "any person who is:

• registered in the register established under section 43 of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007,
• registered in the register established under section 26 of the Dentists Act, 1985, or,
• in relation to health care provided outside the State, entitled under the laws of the country in which the care is provided to practice medicine or dentistry there".

For parents who incur psychological or counselling related expenses in respect of their children, currently relief may be available in circumstances where the practitioner administering the services or referring the child for a diagnostic procedure, as the case may be, is a qualified practitioner as defined above.

For a person who is under 18 years of age, or if over the age of 18 years at the start of the tax year receiving full-time instruction at any university, college, school or other educational establishment, relief may also be allowed for speech and language therapy carried out by a speech and language therapist or educational psychological assessments carried out by an educational psychologist (who is a psychologist who has expertise in the education of students).

In the case of physiotherapy, relief may be allowed in circumstances where the practitioner administering the therapy is a qualified practitioner as defined above, or if the treatment has been prescribed by a practitioner.

Further information is available on Revenue’s website www.revenue.ie/en/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/health-and-age/health-expenses/what-are-qualifying-expenses.aspx

I would note that the health expenses relief is a broadly availed of relief. In 2022, the cost of tax relief for health expenses (excluding nursing home expenses) was €201.1 million and it was availed of by 662,900 claimants.

Therefore, the current provisions pertaining to tax relief for health expenses may already provide for certain therapy related expenses incurred by parents in respect of their children. In the event that the Deputy is suggesting broadening the scope of the existing relief or replacing the existing relief with a tax credit, any associated cost would depend on the parameters of such a tax credit, the number of parents that would be eligible for such a credit or the costs incurred by parents on therapy related expenses, and the tax liabilities of those parents.

The Incapacitated Child Tax Credit may also be claimed by the parent or guardian of a child who is permanently incapacitated by reason of mental or physical infirmity. The qualifying criteria for claiming the credit are outlined in Section 465 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and further information is also available on the Revenue website at www.revenue.ie/en/personal-tax-credits-reliefs-and-exemptions/children/incapacitated-child-credit/index.aspx.