Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I would appreciate if the Minister would forward to me the figures to which he has referred rather than put them on the record of the House. The figures put forward by the Construction Industry Federation, to which the Minister appears to be alluding, suggests that on a house in Dublin costing €295,000, VAT amounts to €35,000; site taxes, €30,000; labour taxes, €29,000; and profit taxes, €11,000. Perhaps the Minister will detail the figures with which he disagrees.

The Minister will be aware that stamp duty for first-time buyers is increased on property costing more than €190,000. However, it is not just the cost in excess of €190,000 which is taxed, stamp duty must be paid on every euro the house costs. Will the Minister examine this cost because the threshold is very low and it is a very heavy tax on first-time buyers? Will he agree that the reward for people in private rented accommodation in terms of tax breaks is extremely low. It might be tax efficient to increase the tax relief because there might be more reporting by tenants and more claims for tax relief. It would be self-financing in terms of bringing more people into the tax net.

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