Sir, - Earlier this week I received a brochure about a seaside resort investment which could save me €50,000 in income tax in the first year. If, as is the case, I did not earn enough to avail of this, the savings could be spread over several years. All this courtesy of the Government-sponsored Section 48 scheme. Today in Smithfield, one of the poorest areas in Dublin, investors are willing to pay €500,000 for a two- bedroom apartment to avail of Section 23 tax relief. Obviously it is worth more than the much maligned SSIA scheme.
The Government tells us that income tax receipts are down and that we have to accept cutbacks. When will it cut back on these tax-avoidance schemes, which seem anomalous in the post-Cayman era? House prices all over the country have been artificially inflated by these schemes, with the "savings" in income tax going directly to the developers instead of to the Government. Young couples are locked into exorbitant mortgages. Thousands of families are on housing waiting lists, with many trying to rear their children in B&B accommodation, or in overcrowded conditions, with parents often having to live apart because they can not afford housing, even on good PAYE salaries.
The long-term cost to society of unchecked greed and the failure to provide equally to all citizens will be high indeed. As we approach the centenary of the founding of the state we might ask with Yeats: "Was it for this the wild geese spread/The grey wing upon every tide/For this that all that blood was shed. . .?" - Is mise,
SÍLE UÍ LAIGHIN,
Garrán Bhaile na gCorr,
Baile Átha Cliath 3.