Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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This is a very successful scheme and would have more than paid for itself over the years. A total of 47,000 homes have been improved under this scheme and approximately €1 million worth of work has been carried out, involving 8,500 contractors. It is quite significant. It came into operation in October 2013 with the aim of stimulating the legitimate tax compliant construction sector and assisting home owners to make enhancements to their properties. In budget 2015, I also extended it to landlords in order to assist them with making improvements to rental accommodation and to potentially increase supply by bringing units that are no longer in use back into the rental market.

The home renovation incentive, HRI, scheme applies to the owners of the property only, and does not apply to private residential tenants. Extending the HRI scheme in the manner in which the Deputy is suggesting would provide a difference of operation or application in respect of local authority tenants over those renting in the private rental sector. In any event, I understand that local authorities bear responsibility for the maintenance of housing that is rented to tenants, in the first instance. If, however, we were disposed to do it we could overcome that particular objection and line of argument.

More seriously, to qualify for HRI, works must meet a minimum spend of at least €5,000, including VAT. This could represent a significant outlay for tenants of a local authority property who might not obtain any long-term financial benefit from such an investment in their home. Furthermore, I understand that some local authorities assess rent liability based on the income and assets, including savings of an individual. In such cases, where an individual wishes to spend significant sums on refurbishments, an application to the local authority for approval could trigger a reassessment and a potential increase in the rent liability of that individual. We have consulted with the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government which has pointed out that it might have a knock-on effect on rent and I do not want to operate blindly. If it could be done I would be disposed to do it because I agree with the Deputy that some long-standing tenants, especially, are disposed to improve their homes without waiting for the local authority to do it when the wait can sometimes be very long. I would be subject to the advice of the committee and we could consider it between now and Report Stage but I would be relying on the advice of the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government on the rent issue before I could move on it.