Regardless, as I mentioned in my opening statement, capital allowances for intellectual property are a normal part of any tax system. The tax system provides relief in the form of capital allowances against trading income for capital expenditure incurred on the provision of intangible assets for the purposes of trade, both acquired and internally developed. IP allowances may only be deducted from income generated by those assets and a cap applies. A maximum of 80% of relevant profits may be offset by capital allowa…

At least the Deputy acknowledged that I am only deputising for another Minister of State. He sends his apologies as he cannot be here. It is obvious, given the level of interaction and number of representations the Deputy has made on this project over the past five years, why he is frustrated. I will give him the response I have been given. He will appreciate that I am not au fait with the issue. I will give the answer and he can come back to me afterwards if he has supplementary questions or questions he would lik…

I reiterate that draft heads of terms, including on the purchase price, have been agreed in respect of the new site. Therefore, there has been progress. The matter is now with the Department of Transport. I have no doubt that the Deputy will exert pressure on the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, to the same extent that he has exerted it on the OPW. It now needs to sanction the necessary funding and give authorisation to proceed with the purchase of the site. That is currently awaited. My advice to th…

That is the problem we have faced with many projects that have been delayed and stalled. The price is only going one way, not down. The OPW needs to carry out due diligence. It is important that it do so for us to get value for money regarding what I acknowledge is very important infrastructure for Courtown. I will relay to the relevant Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran, the sentiments the Deputy has expressed today, and no doubt the Deputy will raise the issue directly with Minister for Transport to ensu…

I thank the Senators who are present, and those who attended debates on previous Stages of the Bill, for their contributions to the debate, particularly in recent weeks, and for their very constructive engagement with the legislation. The Financial Services and Pension Ombudsman is an independent, impartial, fair and free service that helps resolve complaints from consumers, including small businesses, against financial service providers and pension providers. It provides a vital service for consumers of financial …

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. It is important to note that the use of funds arising from betting duty accrues to the Exchequer and there is no hypothecation or ring-fencing of betting duty receipts to any sport or sporting body. Such funding matters are for the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform to consider as part of the annual Estimates process. Betting duty is chargeable on all bets placed by a person wi…

I reiterate that the Government is committed to supporting the development of Ireland's sporting ecosystem and the support that continues to be provided for football is a key example of that commitment in action. This is evidenced by the significant funding provided to the FAI, including capital investment for sports infrastructure and funding for training facilities. As I referred to earlier, the programme for Government includes a commitment to exploring new mechanisms for the creation of football academies with …

As Minister of State with responsibility for insurance reform, I confirm to the Deputy that work is well advanced on the new action plan. I have met with a number of key stakeholders and it is hoped we will seek submissions from the public on the action plan in the next number of weeks with a view to having it finalised in the next two months.

I move amendment No. 1: In page 7, to delete lines 13 to 21 and substitute the following: “ “credit institution” means any of the following that provides, or offers to provide, current accounts in the State: (a) the holder of a licence under section 9 of the Central Bank Act 1971; (b) the holder of an authorisation under section 9A of the Central Bank Act 1971; (c) a credit institution authorised and supervised by the competent authority of another Member State that carries on business in the State, by way of the e…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 7, to delete lines 24 and 25 and substitute the following: “(a) deposit or receive funds, (b) withdraw or transfer funds, and”.

I move amendment No. 3: In page 7, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following definition: “ “funds” has the same meaning as it has in Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on payment services in the internal market;”.

Amendment No. 4 proposes to change the required distance for the percentage of the population to be 5 km from an ATM or cash service point. It also proposes to add the criteria of a minimum percentage of ATMs that provide the necessary functionality to be accessible for those with visual impairments and other forms of disabilities. Section 6 of the Bill sets out population criteria that will require a specified percentage of the population in a specified region to be within a set radius of not less than 5 km and no…

Not agreed.

Níl.

There is an old saying, "Cash is king." I agree with that. It is very important that cash is facilitated. As a postmaster myself, I fully appreciate what Deputy Conway-Walsh said about the good work the post office network did in making sure people's pensions and unemployment benefit were paid out, even though these were not on the system, so to speak, and manually did it to make sure cash was in circulation. One thing I always say is the best way to make sure these services are preserved into the future is for peo…

Access fees are a charge, usually a flat-rate fee irrespective of the amount being withdrawn, levied by an ATM operator to use a specific ATM. Most of us pay bank fees and charges to our current account providers. However, customers of Irish banks and payment service providers have not been subject to what are known as domestic access fees or ATM access fees. Access fees have not been charged for domestic withdrawals in Ireland to date due to Visa and Mastercard rules. However, visitors, including those from EU cou…

I move amendment No. 8: In page 40, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following new section: “Amendment of section 61G of Act of 1942 48. Section 61G(1) of the Act of 1942 is amended— (a) by the substitution of “a designated enactment, a designated statutory instrument or the Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Act 2025 (in so far as that Act is not a designated enactment)” for “a designated enactment or designated statutory instrument”, and (b) by the substitution of the following paragraph f…

I will respond initially to Senator Nelson Murray's query. On the previous day we gave an undertaking to look at the issue, but I did not realise we would be back less than a week later to go through Committee Stage. It has not been possible in that short timeframe to give the matter the scrutiny it needs. We are concerned that any delay in the implementation of the Bill could have unintended consequences. For example, it could prevent the Bill being enacted and giving the support to the people who are in the regul…

I thank both Senators for their contributions, and Senator Murphy for submitting a particular amendment in this regard. He will be aware that my amendment, which was passed on Committee Stage in Dáil Éireann and extended the jurisdiction of the FSPO with regard to the activity of the credit servicing, was an important and comprehensive amendment that addresses the issue that was previously raised regarding the jurisdiction of the FSPO. I thank Senator Murphy's colleagues, in particular, Deputy Doherty, who was very…

We are all aware and very cognisant of the difficult issues involving financial abuse and coercive control. In many cases, the courts, not the FSPO, are the best place to deal with any situation in which one holder of a joint account is in dispute with the other. The role of the FSPO is to resolve complaints between the consumers and financial services or pension providers. The FSPO can make orders against regulated financial services providers but not against third parties or other consumers. Instances of potentia…