Written Answers. - Parliamentary Debates - Houses of the Oireachtas

401 Questions— 22 February 2005. Written Answers 402clients, including such information as unit allocationstatements, indexation notices and annualbenefit statements. Where a policy has a fixedterm, such as in the case of single premium investmentbonds, the undertaking will normally writeout to the policyholder in advance of the maturitydate to advise them that the policy is about tomature. These commercial practices may varyfrom firm to firm and may not extend to all typesof policy.I am informed by the financial regulator thatit is not aware of any complaints regarding lifecompanies’ correspondence in respect ofunclaimed policies, including single premiuminvestment bonds. However, any complaintsshould in the first instance be made to the regulatorat: Consumer Information Department,Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority,PO Box 9138, College Green, Dublin 2, lo-call1890 77 77 77.Tax Code.164. Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Financethe details of all section 50 student accommodationschemes approved since the inception ofthe schemes; if he will provide a breakdown ofthe location and number of bedspaces approvedby each participating college; the mechanismwhereby such student accommodation is monitoredto ensure that it is used by students of theapproving colleges; and if he will make a statementon the matter. [5913/05]Minister for Finance (Mr. Cowen): The Ministerfor Education and Science, in consultationwith the Minister for the Environment and LocalGovernment, with the consent of the Minister forFinance, issues guidelines regarding section 50student accommodation. Under these guidelinesthere is a requirement for a minimum of threebed spaces per unit and a maximum of eight perunit. In this regard, I am informed by the Departmentof the Environment and Local Governmentthat the 4,718 units certified and completed todate have on average 3.7 bed spaces whichamounts to an average of 17,500 bed spaces. Themajority of the units certified and completedrelate to Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Cork.The following table illustrates the location of theapproved units.The guidelines issued by the Department ofEducation and Science also contain a requirementthat tax-relieved accommodation can onlybe let to students of a certifying educational institutionduring the academic year and to nonstudentsoutside of the academic year. Claims fortax relief for the capital investment in studentaccommodation schemes by investors are madeunder the self-assessment system. In this regard,a certain number of such claims are audited aspart of the Revenue Commissioners’ audit programme.Part of an audit would involve the inspectorof taxes, who deals with the audit, being satisfiedthat the conditions for claiming the tax reliefhave been fulfilled, and the investor may beasked to provide evidence that the accommodationhas been let solely to students of the certifyingeducational institution.Section 50 Units Approved01/04/1999-18/02/2005Carlow 79Castlebar 22Cork 570Letterkenny 112Dublin 641Galway 819Tralee 264Maynooth 183Limerick 1061Sligo 356Waterford 512Athlone 99Total 4,718Under the terms of the scheme, there is a requirementfor a minimum of 3 bedspaces per unit anda maximum of eight per unit. The average is 3.7per unit.165. Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Financethe number of spouses of company directors whoare not in receipt of the employee tax credit,PAYE allowance; and if he will make a statementon the matter. [5915/05]Minister for Finance (Mr. Cowen): Under theprovisions of Section 472 of the Taxes ConsolidationAct 1997, a proprietary director and herhisspouse are not entitled to the employee taxcredit, formerly the PAYE allowance, againstemoluments paid to either spouse by a companyof which one of the spouses is a proprietary director.However, the employee tax credit may bedue to each spouse against her-his other emoluments,if any.A “proprietary director” means a director of acompany who is either the beneficial owner of,or able, directly or through the medium of othercompanies or by any other means, to controlmore than 15% of the ordinary share capital ofthe company. I am informed by the RevenueCommissioners that statistics on the number ofspouses of proprietary directors who are not inreceipt of the PAYE allowance are not maintainedand could not be obtained without conductinga protracted investigation of the RevenueCommissioners’ records.Nursing Home Charges.166. Mr. Kelleher asked the Minister for Financeif he will consider accessing the nationalpensions reserve fund on a once-off basis to fund