Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending. They mentioned a €100,000 band, which has now been increased to €200,000. Will they expand on the position regarding bands 2 and 3? With the supply and demand for houses in towns, cities and rural areas, you cannot get a proper valuation for a house at present. Since there are such supply-and-demand issues, the prices of houses can fluctuate. We have seen houses that would have had a value of €200,000 or €250,000 last year, which are going for €400,000 this year. People are fighting each other to try to get houses. Auctioneers have been on television saying that there is a lack of supply. The second a house comes up, many people try to buy it. Many people try to buy turnkey housing because at least they can go to their mortgage providers and have one payment. The current prices do not reflect the prices over a period. We have seen changes as a result of supply-and-demand issues and Covid. We have also seen an increase in the prices of houses due to the price of materials. There has been an increase from €120 per square foot to €165 or €170 per square foot in rural areas because of a lack of materials and an increase in the price of materials.

How do we get an actual price on property to cover this when the market is fluctuating so much at the moment?

I am delighted to see the LPT will be 100% retained within the local authorities. In my case that is Limerick City and County Council. The officials said earlier they cannot discuss or answer how it is going to be distributed so I will take that up with the Minister with responsibility for housing, although I am happy it is being held on to. I ask the officials to answer first on the bands that are there and how we are going to get a valuation on properties with the fluctuating prices.