I am grateful for the opportunity to say a few words about this Bill. It consolidates the law relating to stamp duties which is contained in the Stamp Act, 1891, the Stamp Duties Management Act, 1891, and subsequent Revenue and Finance Acts. This is the first time in the history of the State that stamp duties have been consolidated and, for this reason, I am particularly pleased to be associated with the passage of this Bill.
When the Bill was introduced in the Dáil, the Minister of State noted that stamp duties were a venerable form of taxation. They were first introduced in Ireland in 1774, 225 years ago. When first introduced and, indeed, until 1973, they were a duty on written documents. In 1973 transactions in the form of the issue of shares became liable to stamp duty for the first time. The next extension of the duty took place in 1981, when a levy on credit cards and charge cards was imposed. Today we have, in addition to the levies on credit cards and charge cards, levies on cash cards, non-life insurance premiums and so-called "section 84" loans.
In 1996 the electronic transfer of shares on the Stock Exchange was made liable to stamp duty. This was the first time that stamp duties were applied to electronic transfers. I am confident that when other forms of property become transferable electronically, appropriate legislative measures will be taken to ensure no loss of yield to the Exchequer.
The process of consolidating stamp duties followed the same rigorous process as was adopted for the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997. The aim at all times was to ensure an accurate consolidation of the existing law, with nothing left out and nothing added. This is what has been achieved in this Bill. The Bill was considered by the parliamentary draftsman's office and was duly certified as a consolidation of existing law by the Attorney General. In addition, drafts of the Bill were made available for comment at different stages to interested parties such as the Law Society of Ireland, the Institute of Taxation in Ireland and the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies – Ireland. Two independent expert referees were appointed to examine the accuracy and structure of the Bill. The comments received added greatly to the final product and I thank the parties concerned.
I also thank the Revenue Commissioners, who are to be commended for allocating resources to this project. The Bill is the culmination of a number of years of work, a major side benefit of which being the reduction by almost two thirds in the size of the existing stamp duty code. If the reaction to the consolidation of income tax, corporation tax and capital gains tax is anything to go by, then I confidently expect a very positive reaction among practitioners to this consolidation of stamp duties.
I also appreciate the way in which this House assisted in the speedy passage of the Bill and its contribution to the joint committee's consideration of the Bill. It was important that the Bill would be enacted at the earliest possible date before the publication of next year's Finance Bill. This is because it is intended that future changes to stamp duties will be slotted into the consolidation Act by amendment.
It is also intended to make the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act, 1999, available on CD-ROM once the Bill is enacted. In addition, the guidance notes on the consolidation Act, which the Revenue Commissioners have already prepared, will be published as soon as possible after the Bill is enacted. I understand these notes will also be made available on the Revenue Commissioners' web site.
I repeat the Government's appreciation of the amount of work which went into the preparation of this Bill. The staff of the Revenue Commissioners and the parliamentary draftsman's office are to be congratulated on a job well done. I also thank the private sector for its input, which demonstrated, once again, what can be achieved through a team approach.
