Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

It is worth noting that a significant proportion of receipts from these tax heads comes from sources other than residential property.

On housing starts, a correction has been taking place in the market since last autumn. This has resulted in an easing in house price inflation. The latter is a welcome development because continuing double digit house price inflation would not be sustainable. There is also the question of trying to ensure that we achieve a soft landing for the housing sector, particularly in view of the fact that the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland, the ESRI and others forecast over a period that there would be a reduction in housing starts and completions to a level of approximately 65,000 to 70,000 per annum in the next few years.

We need to ensure there is stability and certainty in the market. That is one of the reasons we have decided to bring legislative proposals before the House this evening. We want to maintain confidence in the housing market. The question before the House relates to the impact on revenues. At this stage, we do not think there is any reason to believe we will be below profile in our overall tax receipts, under all the tax heads. We will continue to monitor the situation.

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