Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I believe that any tax which is designed to prevent transactions from happening is not necessarily a good tax. I know this tax was introduced by the last Government to deal with the issues referred to by Deputy Doherty. However, it has now become a barrier to the release of development land onto the market. We all accept that one of the main issues in the housing market at the moment is the lack of supply. We need land that is suitable for residential development which is appropriately zoned and serviced to be brought to the market so that supply can increase, thus dealing with some of the acute shortages in certain parts of the country. Deputy Doherty has raised a good point with regard to the hoarding of land. While the removal of the 80% windfall tax removes a barrier to suitable development land coming on the market, that does not necessarily mean that such land will be brought to market. It does not deal with the issue of land being hoarded, which can happen, over a prolonged period of time. The Government may need to consider that issue so that there is proper balance here - we want to incentivise landowners with land that is suitable for development to bring it to the market while not encouraging them to hold onto land indefinitely in the expectation that its value will just continue to increase.