Vol. 516 No. 5
187 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if he will reinstate the £800 tax relief for burglar alarm systems for elderly people living alone in view of the continuing need of pensioners on low income for this support. [8490/00]
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 years of age 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.
