The Finance Bill contained no major provisions to promote profit-sharing schemes, despite hopes in the technology industry in particular that the tax treatment of share options might be changed.

Although the Bill contained minor amendments to Save As You Earn (SAYE) schemes, there was no move to ease the tax burden on profit-sharing.

However, Government sources said last night that there could be amendments to the Bill at the committee or reporting stage and it still hoped to address the issue in the context of the current Finance Bill.

The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, is known to be keen to make the tax system more conducive to profitsharing and to do it quickly.

Last month, Ms Harney said tax relief for profit-sharing schemes would form part of the Finance Bill. She said it would contain detailed provisions on tax relief for profit and gain-sharing schemes and that she and the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, had agreed detailed schemes which would be included in the Bill.

Mr McCreevy said yesterday that the issue was being considered by a committee comprising Government and the social partners ahead of the next budget. However, he said he had plans to bring forward some amendments at the committee stage of this Finance Bill.

Among those who had lobbied hard for changes to the taxation of share options (one form of profit-sharing) was the Irish Software Association which believes more lenient tax treatment is necessary to attract workers and address sectoral skills shortages.

The association said last night that it was disappointed by the lack of any provision in the Bill to reduce tax on share options to 20 per cent but said it was hopeful that upcoming amendments to the Finance Bill would tackle the issue. "Failure to make employee share options as attractive as those in our global competitors would be a devastating blow to the industry," association chairman Mr Gerry Jones said.