Vol. 502 No. 3
308 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Finance the procedures involved and restrictions, if any, on an Irish citizen who is selling his home and moving the proceeds of sale to Spain where he is setting up home; and the exchange control restrictions, if any, which exist. [8451/99]
Apart from any tax implications, there are no exchange control restrictions on moving funds out of the State.
The Exchange Control Act, 1954, empowered the Minister for Finance to impose certain obligations and restrictions on Irish residents of foreign currency dealings and certain other financial transactions. The main purpose of these controls was to safeguard official external reserves and to regulate the effects of capital movements on the exchange rate of the Irish pound. A phased relaxation of exchange controls was announced on 13 November 1987 to commence in 1988. The Exchange Control (Continuance) Act, 1990, provided that the 1954 Act would continue in operation until 31 December 1992 and would then expire. Therefore, as and from 1 January 1993, exchange controls no longer exist.
