Vol. 565 No. 2
77 Ms M. Wallace asked the Minister for Finance if there is a tax refund scheme to cover the cost of providing an alarm to the home of an elderly person where the provider of the alarm in most cases is a son or daughter who would qualify for tax relief on the cost of the alarm; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10580/03]
As the Deputy will be aware, section 478 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, formerly section 5 of Finance Act 1996, introduced a tax relief in respect of the purchase and-or installation of house alarm systems for persons aged 65 years and over, living alone. The legislation provided 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 at this time to reintroduce the relief.
