Tax Code.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 September 2004

Wednesday, 29 September 2004

Ceisteanna (123)

John Perry

Ceist:

302 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Finance his plans to extend the tax incentives in the rural renewal scheme in Counties Sligo and Leitrim; the percentage of work that must be carried out in order to avail of the scheme; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that many persons in the rural renewal areas have just been granted planning permission or have applications lodged; the steps they should take to ensure that they are approved for inclusion in the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22067/04]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

In budget 2004, I extended the qualifying period for the rural renewal scheme for an additional 19 months from 31 December 2004 to 31 July 2006. The extension will apply where firstly an application for full planning permission is received by the planning authority by 31 December 2004, secondly an acknowledgement has been issued by the local authority to the effect that the application has been received on or before 31 December 2004 and thirdly the application does not represent an invalid application.

Where the work involved is exempted development for the purposes of section 4 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 or Part 2 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, the extension to 31 July 2006 will also apply where the following conditions are met by 31 December 2004: a detailed plan in relation to the development work has been prepared, a binding contract in writing exists under which the expenditure is incurred, and work to the value of 5% of the development costs has been carried out.

There are no plans to provide for further time extensions to the Scheme.