Ms Lisa Kearney:

On the same point, the people who are above the threshold were forced into this, a lot of the way, by competitive bidding and rising house prices. It is not as if these people intentionally decided to get a house worth over €750,000. A lot of those houses might have been on the market at a lower price but with the scarcity of housing at the moment, and competitive bidding, buyers were forced into paying that price. Therefore, it is very unjust on both sides, both under €80,000 and over €500,000.

On another point, the maximum value of the relief is looking at about €1,250 per property. It is estimated that only 165,000 mortgage holders will benefit from this relief at the moment. The Banking & Payments Federation Ireland has produced statistics which show there are more than 712,000 mortgage holders in this country. Therefore, the fact that only 165,000 will benefit from the relief speaks volumes, and I think it is a very poor return.