Vol. 537 No. 5
274 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the tax relief which is available to have burglar alarms installed in houses occupied by senior citizens; if he will compare this to tax reliefs previously available; and the reason these tax concessions were withdrawn. [17241/01]
As the Deputy will be aware, section 478 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997, formerly section 5 of the Finance Act, 1996, introduced a tax relief in respect of the purchase and/or installation of house alarm systems for persons aged 65 and over and living alone. The legislation provided specifically that the tax relief would only be available for the period 23 January 1996 to 5 April 1998. The tax relief was allowed to lapse in part because of the small numbers of claims being submitted and I have no plans to re-introduce the scheme.
