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

It was 41,000 homes in 2014, 41,000 again in 2015, 48,000 in 2016 and then 62,000 in 2017, so there was a significant jump. We will explore that further. I have one final question on the issue of stamp duty. There were a few questions on this from Deputy Pearse Doherty. As it is a transaction-based tax and an extra €376 million has been factored into the budget from the 4% increase, is there any concern at a policy level within the Department of Finance that spending commitments or tax reductions are being built on a foundation that includes a significant increase in a transaction-based tax? That sum of almost €400 million is a key part of the budgetary arithmetic and it is transaction-based. That was one of the key criticisms of fiscal and budgetary policy in the lead up to the crisis. It was on a different scale but it is the same principle.