Finance Act, 2002

Amendment of section 268 (meaning of “industrial building or structure”) of Principal Act.

22.—(1) Section 268 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (11), by substituting “grant assistance or any other assistance which is granted by or through the State, any board established by statute, any public or local authority or any other agency of the State” for “grant assistance from the State or from any other person”, and

(b) in subsection (12)—

(i) in paragraph (a), by deleting “and”, and

(ii) by substituting the following for paragraph (b):

“(b) that the expenditure concerned falls within the meaning of ‘initial investment’ contained in point 4.4 of the ‘Guidelines on National Regional Aid’1 prepared by the Commission of the European Communities,

(c) that, in the case of a building or structure provided for the purposes of a project which is subject to the notification requirements of the ‘Multisectoral framework on regional aid for large investment projects’2 prepared by the Commission of the European Communities, approval of the potential capital allowances involved has been received from that Commission by the Minister for Finance, or by such other Minister of the Government, agency or body as may be nominated for that purpose by the Minister for Finance, and

(d) that such person has undertaken to furnish to the Minister for Finance, or to such other Minister of the Government, agency or body as may be nominated for that purpose by the Minister for Finance, upon request in writing by the Minister concerned or that agency or body, such further information as may be necessary to enable compliance with the reporting requirements of—

(i) the Regulation referred to in paragraph (a) or the Multisectoral framework referred to in paragraph (c),

(ii) ‘Community guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty’1 prepared by the Commission of the European Communities, or

(iii) any other European Communities Regulation or Directive under the European Communities Treaty governing the granting of State aid in specific sectors.”.

(2) This section applies as respects expenditure incurred on or after 1 January 2002.

1 O.J. No. C 74, 10.3.1998, p. 9

2 O.J. No. C 107, 7.4.1998, p. 7

1 O.J. No. C 288, 9.10.1999, p. 2