Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Most of the points have been made. This is a new variation on an old and failed theme when the supply of housing in whatever form it takes that people can afford based on their incomes needs to be increased. The Government is instead returning to an old theme, which is to incentivise developers with tax breaks relating to property. The tax break in this case is hoped to increase supply and to incentivise the private sector to deliver housing. We have been down this road previously and it just does not work. It led to disastrous consequences. The evidence is clear that this proposal is driving up prices and, therefore, the benefit, if any, to the target group of first-time buyers is highly dubious but, in any event, it is completely the wrong way of approaching the problem. It smacks of the addiction that seems to exist of looking to the private sector to deal with this problem and trying to incentivise developers and bankers rather than the State directly providing the low cost housing that is needed. I do not understand why the Government does not grasp that fact. One does not have to be a radical left winger to understand this. Large scale provision of low cost housing was directly provided by the State previously. It is cheaper, more effective and quicker, but, instead, we have these round the houses approaches and the circuitous route to trying to solve the problem always goes via the bankers and the developers rather than going directly at it. We absolutely reject this as a solution and think it will add to the problems rather than solve them.