Vol. 522 No. 3
105 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Finance the number of nursing home beds that have been provided or are in the course of being provided as a result of the tax incentives provided in the Finance Act, 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18739/00]
In the 1998 budget, I introduced tax relief for the provision of private nursing homes. The Finance Act, 1998, provides for capital allowances in respect of expenditure on the construction, extension or refurbishment of buildings used as private, registered nursing homes and for such expenditure on the conversion of an existing building into such a nursing home. The allowances are 15% per annum for years one to six and 10% in year seven for expenditure incurred after 3 December 1997. In the 1999 Finance Act, I introduced similar capital allowances for expenditure on private convalescent facilities. These facilities are to be used as an alternative to hospital care for patients recovering from acute hospital treatment.
I understand that under the normal self-assessment rules any person seeking to claim capital allowances in respect of a qualifying building would submit their claim on the appropriate tax return form. However, the form does not distinguish between capital allowances claimed in respect of nursing homes and-or private convalescent facilities from those claimed in respect of any other industrial building. Consequently, it is not possible for Revenue to indicate the level of take-up of this specific incentive. However, I would like to remind the House that in order to avail of the tax relief, a nursing home must be registered with a health board in accordance with the Health (Nursing Homes) Act, 1990. Consequently, matters relating to the number of beds provided would be a matter for the health boards in the first instance.
