Sir, Recently, the Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn, announced his Finance Act. With one stroke of a pen he has abolished one of the few incentives to innovation and research, the tax relief on patent royalties and the like.
It is almost unbelievable that this Minister is part of the same Government as Richard Bruton and Pat Rabbitte. The latter two are constantly urging innovation as the salvation of Irish industry is it time to formally introduce them to each other?
Allegedly to stop tax evasion by a few yahoos, discontinuing the scheme only makes life more difficult for those who try to innovate through research. Surely it is not beyond the wit of the Department of Finance to come up with some variation on the scheme that leaves the incentive in place but discourages the evaders.
I suppose we should all be thankful that Mr Quinn is safely contained within the Department of Finance. If he had charge of health our hospitals would be full of in grown toenail amputees. Yours, etc., Sandyford Hall Park, Kilgobbin Road, Dublin 18.