Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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27. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the operation of the accelerated capital allowance for childcare services; if he will provide a breakdown of the total number of claims made under the scheme for each year 2017-2024; if there are any plans to review the scheme to ensure it is achieving the aim of assisting employers in providing childcare services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16253/25]

Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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56. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the operation of the accelerated capital allowance for childcare services; if this is achieving the aim of assisting employers in providing childcare services; if not, if other steps could be taken by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15715/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 27 and 56 together.

I note that the questions refer to childcare services and I have assumed that the queries are in relation to the accelerated capital allowances scheme, which is available for childcare and fitness centre equipment, and for buildings used for the purposes of providing childcare services or fitness centres, to employees.

In general, capital allowances in the form of wear and tear allowances are available for plant and machinery at a rate of 12.5% annually over eight years, and at a rate of 4% annually over 25 years for qualifying industrial buildings.

The Accelerated Capital Allowances (ACA) Scheme for Childcare and Fitness Centre Equipment was initially introduced subject to a commencement order in Finance Act 2017 and was then amended and commenced with effect from 1 January 2019 in Finance Act 2018. The purpose of this scheme is to encourage employers to develop childcare facilities and fitness centres for the exclusive use of their employees. The rationale for introducing this relief was to help tackle the cost and availability of childcare facilities, both of which had been cited as barriers to work, and to support objectives for improved health and wellbeing.

The scheme provides for 100% of the capital allowances available in respect of qualifying equipment to be claimed in the year in which it is first used in the business. It also provides for an accelerated industrial building annual allowance on qualifying expenditure of 15% per annum for 6 years and 10% in year 7. The scheme is only available to employers, for facilities to be provided for the exclusive use of the employees. Employers cannot benefit from the scheme if the facilities are open for the general use of the public.

Details of the number of claimants of the scheme and the Exchequer cost since 2019 to 2022, the year in which the most recent data is currently available, are outlined below. As the ACA scheme only became operational in 2019, there is no data on the scheme available before that point. The relief can be claimed by both companies and non-corporate employers; therefore the data encompass relief given under both corporation tax (CT) and income tax (IT).

It is noted that the data is relatively limited due to restrictions on the availability of data. Section 851A TCA formalises taxpayer confidentiality and provides assurance to taxpayers that their personal and commercial information disclosed to Revenue is protected against unauthorised disclosure to other persons. In general, the primary disclosure control approach adopted by Revenue is to not provide figures where numbers are shown to be below 10 units.

As with all tax expenditures, the ACA Scheme for Childcare and Fitness Centre equipment and for the construction of buildings used for the purposes of providing childcare services and fitness centres is regularly evaluated to assess its continuing relevance, cost, impact and efficiency. In line with my Department’s Tax Expenditure Guidelines, a review of the scheme was conducted in 2024 and was detailed in the Enterprise Supports Tax Strategy Group Paper. The review noted that, although Revenue could not provide specific details of new versus current claimants in each year due to taxpayer confidentiality, it is understood that the vast majority of claimants are new each year. This indicates a continuing level of new uptake of the relief.