Vol. 534 No. 2
79 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Finance his views on whether his Department should play its part in the achievement of the targets set out in the Government's Green Paper on Renewable Energy published in 2000; if so, the reason there are no workable tax based incentives for this industry in place at the moment; and the plans he has to support this important indigenous primary industry, particularly in relation to a modified film finance scheme. [10312/01]
There is a tax incentive for energy production under section 486B of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997. This is a scheme which I introduced in the Finance Act, 1998. It applies to solar power, wind power, hydro power and biomass projects approved by the Minister for Public Enterprise. The relief takes the form of a deduction for tax purposes from a company's profits for an investment in new ordinary shares in a company setting up a renewable energy project. The relief is capped at 50% of all capital expenditure, excluding land, net of grants, or £7.5 million for a single project, whichever is the lesser. Investment by a company or group is capped at £10 million per annum, and unless the shares are held for at least five years by the company the relief will be withdrawn.
Following clearance of the scheme by the European Commission, I made an Order providing that the relief would come into operation from 18 March 1999 for a three year period.
