Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will be aware that I have campaigned for a long time on mortgage interest relief. I welcome that the Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023 has an element of mortgage interest relief but, like many good Sinn Féin ideas, the Government sometimes takes them and messes them up. We saw that with the renters' credit, where there is no freeze, therefore much of it ends up in the pockets of landlords. We saw it with other proposals that happened in the past as well. This is an example of one which could have been far better. We argued for 30% on the difference between interest rates charged in 2022 compared with 2023. It is remarkable how similar the Government's proposal is to what we put on the table, despite all the criticism. I am sure on budget night many people were trying to delete their comments because it is extremely similar in the nature of how it would apply. We argued that it should be 30%. The Government has introduced it at 20%. We argued that the maximum benefit should be €1,500, yet the Government brought it in at €1,250. I want to focus on the fact that so many mortgage holders will be excluded from the Government's proposal, which is cruel in the context of interest rate increases. The Minister spoke about the cap of €500,000, which is fine and I accept. I argued this last year. I told the Government to bring forward its own proposals. We have had to wait a year for them. It does not prevent high income mortgages from getting the benefit. The Minister said that in a debate with me on television, I think. I am sure he knows that is not true. Somebody with a mortgage of €2 million can still get this benefit as long as the remainder of the balance of the mortgage was less than €500,000 at the end of last year. I assume that is the proper reading of it. We need to be clear that is the case. If it is not, perhaps the Minister could explain that to me. I do not believe the Government has put a €500,000 cap on the mortgage as it was drawn down.

The key part I wish to focus on is that the Government has excluded mortgages with a balance of less than €80,000 at the end of 2022. Many people have a balance of less than €80,000. They are not wealthy individuals. They have seen their interest rate increase over and over. I gave an example on budget day and I will give it again. If somebody has a balance of less than €80,000 on their tracker mortgage, for example, the interest rate they will pay this year, compared with what they would have paid in June 2022, has increased by nearly €2,000. Despite the fact that it has increased by nearly €2,000, there will be no support for them under the Minister, Deputy McGrath's proposal. That is cruel. It is not acceptable. It must be dealt with. The Minister gave me figures on this when I asked for them. He said 137,800 people are possibly excluded from mortgage interest relief because their balance is less than €80,000. There are a lot of families and people who may have seen up to €2,000 increase in their mortgages. Some will have less of an increase. They get nothing under this proposal. This is despite the fact that somebody with a higher mortgage, who took out a mortgage more recently, may see their interest rate increase by a lower amount - €800 or €900 - will get that benefit of 20% relief. Yet, somebody who has had double that will not get it, just because their balance is less than €80,000. It makes no sense. When this was put to the Minister, he said they have more equity in the house. What is that to them, unless they remortgage their home? What is the point in that? This is an income shock for families. This is why mortgage interest relief is brought about. I do not understand the rationale behind why the Minister would exclude them, after all this time - the Government fought this tooth and nail for many months. Then, when it capitulated and brought forward mortgage interest relief, in doing the right thing, it decided to exclude 137,000 mortgage accounts because of their balance being below €80,000. It makes no sense to me. I know from emails I have received, which I am sure the Minister has also, of families in this situation in which they are locked out of this scheme because of this provision. It does not make any sense.