Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Yes, I mean, the purpose behind the Labour Party proposal - and, in fact, it was joined to Fine Gael ... it was a discussion which was held between both of the parties - was that the first time ... it was to try and tilt the regime in relation to stamp duty in favour of first-time buyers because the cost of a house, particularly in urban areas, had actually risen, from the figures you quoted, somewhere in the three hundred thousands up to over €450,000. And in more expensive parts of cities like Galway and Cork and Dublin, even far higher than that. So, for instance, two civil servants on something like ... a HEO's salary or a nurse or someone like that, a teacher ... two teachers married to each other, were finding themselves priced out of being able to afford a house. So the objective was to try and ensure that people on reasonable incomes could actually take part in home ownership, which, I think, had been agreed as being a desirable social policy by practically all parties in the House. Now, what happened then was, as well, you had, in relation to second-hand properties, which had been traditionally somewhat cheaper, you know, particularly in less expensive areas, you had competition which the Bacon reports attempted to address. You had competition from investors who got favourable tax treatment and again there was a disadvantage to the traditional buyer who was providing a residential home for themselves as they sought to establish a family for themselves and their ... their partner. And there was a step ... there was a step system where once the value went over a certain amount, you jumped up into a much higher rate of stamp duty. And the proposals by the Labour Party and Fine Gael were to try and iron out the anomalies, which were arising at that point, which were putting home ownership out of the reach of people who traditionally ... I think everybody - all parties - wanted to be involved. Now, Fianna Fáil, of course, subsequently abolished stamp duty for first-time buyers.