Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We know that the Minister's priorities are about putting money into the pockets of landlords.

On the reform with regard to private rental income, the Minister should absolutely be doing that. Indeed, we will be proposing amendments in that regard. The fact is that those who rent in this city - the vulture funds - pay no income tax with regard to their rents and pay no CGT with regard to disposals, and yet the Minister is happy to smile over there and allow that to continue. It is absolutely obscene. The Minister mentioned Focus Ireland and the talks about the alignment between the corporate and the individual, yet these corporate individuals get far more and benefit so much under the deals the Minister is willing to continue with.

I asked a very simple question, which I believed we could start from as a base point, about the need to accept that the effective tax rate on landlords has gone down over the past ten years. This is a point which the Minister for Finance is unwilling to utter but it is simply a fact.

The second thing is that this is not just me. The tax strategy papers are very clear. According to the Minister's own Department:

In the case of accidental landlords, it is difficult to envisage any reasonable policy intervention that could dissuade such people from selling their property. People in this situation are keen to sell once they have escaped negative equity and public policy options to prevent such action are extremely limited.

I feel for the Minister's officials because they have to support the Minister. The Minister has decided on this bananas policy to put €160 million of taxpayers' money into the pockets of landlords which is not going to make a blind bit of difference. These officials have to support the Minister to present that in a way that the Minister must do. Barra Roantree said that this is one of the most stupid tax relief schemes he has seen, with stiff competition. The point is that it is not going to work. If there was an argument just to give landlords more money, and if it was going to work, the Minister could at least put it on the table. I would still have some serious issues with it but at least it could be put on the table. In this case, it is not going to work. Barra Roantree said that the vast majority of landlords have no intention of leaving the market but what is the Minister going to do? He will give them €600 this year, €800 next year, €1,000 the year after and a further €1,000 the year after that. There is nothing planned for the nurses and teachers who are planning to go, but the Minister's priority, as he has made very clear, in his policy intervention is for the landlord. It is for the landlord.