Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 November 2013
195. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Finance the amount collected since the levy on private sector pension savings was introduced that has been spent on job creation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46417/13]
View answerA temporary 0.6% stamp duty levy on pension fund assets was introduced in the Finance (No.2) Act 2011 as a measure to fund the Jobs Initiative. This was estimated to yield €470 million a year for 4 years. The Revenue Commissioners have advised me that receipts amounted to €463 million in 2011 and €483 million in 2012. This is broadly in line with the amounts anticipated to be collected in those years. €534 million was collected in 2013 to date, due to an increase in the capital value of pension funds. The Jobs Initiative announced in 2011 included a range of revenue and expenditure measures to support the protection of existing jobs and the creation of new ones. It provided for the suspension of the Air Travel Tax subject to the airlines increasing passenger numbers by restoring previously cancelled routes and by creating new routes. It also included the reduction of VAT on tourism services to 9% from 13.5% on a temporary basis until the end of 2013. A number of other tax initiatives were also included.
The Deputy will be aware that I announced the reduction of the Air Travel Tax to zero with effect from 1st April 2014 and the continuation of the 9% VAT rate for the tourism and hospitality sector. The decision to remove the tax, together with the retention 9% VAT rate for tourism services, will help maintain the momentum created by the success of The Gathering this year. Since the Budget announcement, airlines have announced the opening up of new routes which will generate a significant increase in passenger numbers with the associated increase in tourism activity and employment.
The Jobs Initiative also included a number of current and capital expenditure measures, including a number aimed at retraining the workforce. While the details of the expenditure on these measures are a matter for my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin T.D., I would ask the Deputy to note that, my colleague the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton T.D., with responsibility for JobBridge, the National Internship scheme, recently announced that the number of internships, originally planned at 5,000 has now exceeded 20,000. Indecon Economic Consultants undertook an evaluation of the JobBridge scheme in 2012 (published in April 2013) and their report found that 61.4% of the JobBridge survey respondents were in employment within 5 months of finishing their internships.
In terms of measures in the education sector, the Springboard scheme as announced in the Jobs Initiative had initially provided for 5,900 places. During 2011 and 2012, over 10,000 people enrolled on programmes under the Springboard scheme. The scheme has been extended further with my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D. announcing in June this year, another 6,000 places under the third Springboard allocation. Further rollouts of the Springboard scheme will be considered in the context of the findings of an on-going evaluation.
In Budget 2014, I have introduced an additional levy on pension funds of 0.15% within the existing legal framework. This is estimated to yield €135 million in a full year. I am doing this among other things to continue to help fund measures initially outlined in the Jobs Initiative, including the continuation of the reduced 9% VAT rate, which is estimated to cost €350 million in a full year. The 0.15% additional levy will remain in place for 2015 while the originally announced 0.6% levy expires at the end of 2014.
