Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 19 May 1999

Vol. 505 No. 1

Written Answers. - Implementation of Acts.

Ruairí Quinn

Ceist:

146 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Finance the Acts and provisions of Acts not in force by reason of the fact that a commencement order has not been made; if such an order will be made; if so, when it will be made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13245/99]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

Section 11 of the Superannuation and Pensions Act, 1976, which will repeal enactments mentioned in the Second Schedule to that Act has not been brought into force. Commencement of the section is dependent on the making of the principal Civil Service pension scheme.

Section 11(2) of the Economic and Monetary Union Act, 1998, has not yet been commenced. This provides for the issue of euro coins by the Minister for Finance and a commencement order in respect of it will be made closer to their introduction on 1 January 2002.

Section 45 of the Finance Act, 1996, has not come into force. It will on the enactment of the Greyhound Industry Bill.

Section 45 of the Finance Act, 1998, provides for a number of changes to the self assessment system, including changes in the return filing date. Commencement orders are needed before these changes take effect. No orders have yet been made pending consultation with the professional bodies and the development of proposals to alien the tax year with the calendar year.

Chapter 1 of Part 2 and sections 112 and 113 of the Finance Act, 1999, dealing with mineral oil tax, have not come into operation. A commencement order will be made as soon as the necessary secondary legislation is ready. It is hoped that the Revenue Commissioners will have made regulations to implement the above provisions, which consolidate and modernise the existing excise duty legislation in relation to mineral oil products, by the end of 1999. The process involves the consolidation and modernisation of a large body of regulations dealing with those products.

Section 117 of the Finance Act, 1999, regarding the reduction in betting tax has not come into operation. An order is being drafted and it will be made before 1 July 1999.

The business tax incentives for the urban renewal scheme provided for in section 372B of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997, have not yet commenced as the necessary EU Commission approval has not been obtained. When this approval is given, the appropriate commencement order will be made as soon as possible thereafter. Discussions with the EU Commission are still in progress and it is expected that the commencement order will be made in a few months time.

The same applies to section 372L of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 – business tax incentives for the rural renewal scheme.

On section 367(1) of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 – tax reliefs for the Dublin docklands area, no areas have yet been designated so the question of a commencement order does not arise. EU Commission approval would be needed for any business tax incentives but not for residential tax incentives.

On section 340(2) of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997 – regional airport enterprise areas, the EU Commission has been formally notified of one such regional airport enterprise area. When EU Commission approval is obtained, the necessary designation order for the tax relief for the scheme for this particular area to commence will be made, which should be in a few months time.

On section 24(1)(c)(ii) and (2) of the Finance Act, 1998 – freight forwarding and logistical services in regional airport enterprise areas, EU Commission approval is needed to add freight forwarding and logistical services to the list of qualifying services for the tax relief for the regional airport enterprise areas. If this approval is given for a qualifying project, the necessary commencement order to add these activities will be made. No such order is envisaged in the absence of a definite qualifying project.

Section 42 of the 1999 Finance Act – tax reliefs for the custom house docks area, extends various tax reliefs in the Custom House docks area beyond 24 January 1999 to 31 December 1999 or, in certain cases, to 30 June 2000. The order implementing these new termination dates will be made as soon as EU Commission approval is obtained for the double rent and rates reliefs for the buildings in that area. Discussions are still continuing with the Commission on this matter and the issue is expected to be finalised in the next few months.

The above list contains all the items currently under consideration. In the time available it has not been possible to carry out an exhaustive examination of the entire taxation code for this purpose.