Vol. 463 No. 5
50 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Education if she will make a statement regarding her decision to provide tax relief on fees for approved courses in approved third-level private colleges in view of her decision to abolish such relief namely covenants for those attending public third-level institutions. [6681/96]
86 Ms Keogh asked the Minister for Education if she will make a statement on her decision to provide tax relief on fees for approved courses in approved third-level private colleges in view of her decision to abolish such relief namely covenants, for those attending public third-level institutions. [6845/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 50 and 86 together.
The Government decided to make changes in the tax treatment of covenants not only as part of the restructuring of State support for third level education but also to curb the growing cost of covenant tax relief to the Exchequer. The withdrawal of covenant tax relief, except for some restricted categories, means that the abolition of full-time undergraduate fees has been achieved for a relatively small additional cost to the State.
The benefit conferred under the covenant tax relief was available to students in both publicly funded and private third level colleges. It was highly regressive as the extent of the tax relief was greater for those on higher incomes and the rate at which relief was given was not restricted to the standard rate of tax.
