Written answers
Thursday, 19 June 2025
Department of Finance
Tax Code
Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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232. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 46 of 21 May 2025, if he accepts that the register of beneficial ownership has been effectively closed to all journalists; if he is aware than many countries in the EU have not taken the same approach in relation to the CJEU ruling mentioned; if he will bring forward new legislation to ensure journalists can access the register of beneficial ownership ensuring journalism is classed as a legitimate interest; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33346/25]
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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In November 2022 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled, in Joined Cases C-37/20 and C-601/20, that a provision of the EU AML Directive 2015/849 which was amended by the EU AML Directive 2018/843 under which information on the beneficial ownership of corporate and other legal entities, held in central registers, must be provided to the general public, is invalid. Specifically, the Court found that the provision interfered with the rights recognised in Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.
Accordingly, to ensure our domestic legislation complies with the Court’s ruling, and following consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, a Statutory Instrument was prepared amending Regulations which govern two of Ireland’s registers of beneficial ownership information - the Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Industrial & Provident Societies (RBO), which operates under the auspices of the Companies Registration Office, and the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicles, Credit Unions and Unit Trusts, which is operated by the Central Bank of Ireland. The Minister for Finance signed into law S.I. 308 of 2023, the European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 on 18th June 2023 which provides that tier 2 access requests are subject to an entity demonstrating it has a legitimate interest, subject to the satisfaction of the relevant Registrar.
The new AML package was agreed by the EU Council in May 2024 and the associated AML legislation specifies the rules and those categories of entities that are deemed to have legitimate interest. This includes the media and wider civic society in recognition of the need for transparency and society’s general interest in knowing the identity of beneficial owners for AML purposes. Articles 10, 12 and 14 of the 6th Anti-Money Laundering Directive refer. It should be noted that Article 14 states inter alia ‘the Commission shall define, by means of implementing acts, technical specifications and procedures necessary for the implementation of access on the basis of a legitimate interest by the central registers referred to in Article 10, including: standardised templates for requesting access to the central register and for requesting access to beneficial ownership information on legal entities and legal arrangements’.
Work by my Department has already commenced on transposing the new AML package and there is ongoing engagement with the EU Commission and other Member States in relation to the standardised templates for legitimate interest. The transposition deadline for this aspect of the new AML package is July 2026.
Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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233. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will review correspondence (details supplied); if there are plans to revise the rule in cases involving self-builds with limited mortgage borrowing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33228/25]
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Help to Buy (HTB) incentive, is a scheme to assist first-time purchasers with the deposit they need to buy or build a new house or apartment. An increase in the supply of new housing remains a central and priority aim of Government policy. For this reason, HTB is specifically designed to encourage an increase in demand for new build homes in order to support the construction of an additional supply of such properties.
The incentive gives a refund of Income Tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) paid in Ireland over the previous four years, subject to limits outlined in the legislation.
For a property to qualify for HTB, it must be new or converted for use as a dwelling, having not previously been used as a dwelling. Additionally, the purchase value/approved valuation of the property must not exceed €500,000.
The level of support available to first time buyers under the HTB scheme, is whichever is the lesser of:
- €30,000; or
- 10 per cent of the purchase price of the new property; or,
- the amount of Income Tax and DIRT paid in the four years before application for the relief.
One condition of the scheme is that a qualifying first-time purchaser (“FTP”) must take out a loan in an amount equal to at least 70 per cent of the purchase value of the property. In the case of a self-build property, the purchase value is the approved valuation of the self-build property, as approved by the lender in accordance with the Central Bank’s macro prudential rules. These rules stipulate the valuation should include the site value.
The HTB scheme, was initially intended to be limited to persons who had mortgages with a minimum Loan to Value ratio (LTV) of 80 per cent. However, Central Bank data indicated that a sizable number of first-time buyers take out a mortgage with a LTV of less than 80 per cent. As such, it was decided to amend the scheme in the subsequent Finance Bill to set the minimum LTV at 70 percent so as to ensure that first-time buyers did not feel compelled to borrow larger amounts than they would have otherwise in order to qualify for the scheme.
Individuals who are in the position of being able to avail of a mortgage at a lower LTV than 70 per cent are considered to have sufficient resources to meet the deposit requirements of the macro prudential rules and thus less in need of assistance from the Exchequer. Lowering the LTV ceiling would therefore only increase deadweight in the scheme. In fact, the independent review of the scheme which took place in 2022 recommended that the LTV be increased to 80 per cent for purchasers availing of HTB.
It should be noted that the value of the site, and not just the building cost, is included in the valuation. This is of particular relevance in cases of self-build homes.
Finally, and as the Deputy will appreciate, decisions regarding taxation measures are made in the context of the annual Budget and Finance Bill processes, at the appropriate time, having regard to the sound management of the public finances and the impact any proposed changes would have on the broader housing market. However, I have no plans, at present, to amend the the LTV requirements of HTB.
Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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234. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 395 of 10 June 2025, to outline, given the five tests set by Karshan in 2023 and given that the wages of home tutors are paid by her Department, the teaching hours are set by her Department and her Department is the one who exercises control, and the home tutors are not allowed to subcontract their work, whether the 2015 decision is valid in view of the fact that it says that the parent/guardians are the employees; if this would not be akin to interpreting Karshan’s decision in relation to drivers of a company (details supplied) as saying the person who ordered the pizza was the employer. [33229/25]
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Home Tuition Grant Scheme is operated by the Department of Education and Youth and the conditions of the scheme have been set by the Department, including the setting of teaching hours to be covered by the grant scheme, as well as that parents or guardians must source a qualified tutor who is registered with the Teaching Council of Ireland for the duration of the approved tuition.
Revenue have confirmed to me that it is Revenue's understanding that the Home Tuition Grant Scheme provides funding towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for children, who, for a number of specific reasons, are unable to attend school.
The additional point raised by the Deputy, that home tutors are not allowed to subcontract their work, would support the position that the home tutors are employees for tax purposes, as one of the steps in five-step framework as set out in the Supreme Court decision. The question of who is engaging the home tutors under the Home Tuition Grant Scheme has not changed post the Supreme Court decision. It is Revenue's understanding that it is the parent or guardian that engages the home tutor in a private arrangement and as such the payment arrangement is between the parent or guardian and the home tutor.
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