Irish SME Association

Lobbying Organisation Irish SME Association

Date published 21 Jan, 2019

Relevant Matter Public policy or programme

Public Policy Area Finance

Period 1 Sep, 2018 to 31 Dec, 2018

Specific Details Meeting re amendment of the Key Employee Engagement Program (KEEP Scheme)

Intended results Amending the scheme to allow SMEs to use it.

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Neil McDonnell ISME CEO

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Meeting (1)

Meeting 29th November 2018, Dept of Finance. Topic based on widening of the KEEP scheme for SMEs i.e Removal of placing a lifetime restriction on employees as it will introduce unplanned externalities for employees. For example, some skilled employees might be forced to consider whether to avail of KEEP with their current employer, or retain their entitlements for another employment with a better prospect under the scheme.

Letter (1)

Observations from ISME regarding how the increase in the upper threshold to €300,000 was welcomed, this should have retained the three consecutive tax year requirement as set out last year, instead of a lifetime ceiling. Whether intended or not, placing a lifetime restriction on employees is a retrograde step that will introduce unplanned externalities for employees (Sent on 6th November 2018).

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

John Hogan Assistant Secretary (Department of Finance)