Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)

Ar dtús báire, ó thaobh an phíosa seo, mír 40, níor chuir mé in éadan na leasuithe. I did not oppose the amendments, many of which are technical in nature and which look at clarifications in relation to different definitions. The reason I did not oppose the amendments is because I am completely opposed to this section. This section provides significant tax breaks for developers who are involved in the construction of apartments. That is absolutely the wrong priority of the Government in this Finance Bill. I made the point yesterday that the Government has decided to break its election promises to workers and families. The Government promised them there would be a tax break for them, but in this year's budget the Minister has decided instead to prioritise other areas. In this section the Minister is asking us to support the idea that a developer can build 50 apartments, make a profit of €2.5 million and pay no tax whatsoever. Up until now they would have had to pay tax. That is not acceptable in my view. This measure will only kick in where profits are being made in the construction of apartments. The Minister wants to boost the profits of developers. It is interesting to see details, that are all publicised, of the largest developers in the State, Cairn Homes and Glenveagh. These reports show that the gross profit margin for Cairn Homes for 2024 was 21.7%. For Glenveagh, its gross margin was 21.2%. This is not surprising. There is a whole issue in Britain where there has been an examination and the Government there looked at a competitive review. There are super profits in excess of 17% being made there.

There has been a deep dive into the hoarding of land, the selective release of property at selected times and the use of their dominant nature to ensure developers would get more benefits from Government. At the core of this, and with all of that left aside and whether it is other people who develop these apartments as opposed to these two entities, what the Minister is asking us to sign up to today is to allow a developer to make €2.5 million profit on the back of 50 apartments and my understanding is that they would pay no tax on those profits. That is wrong. It is especially wrong when the Minister put it to us yesterday that he had to make tough choices. This is the wrong choice. It is the wrong choice to choose the profits of developers, who are making millions of euro in profits, as opposed to the real pressures that are on ordinary workers and families who the Minister has left worse off as a result of this Finance Bill. For those reasons, I cannot support this section.