Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

The accompanying documentation provided indicates that revenue from stamp duty in 2011 is expected to be €36 million over the full year. On how many transactions is this estimate based? I am not aware of many transactions being completed last year. Certainly the difference between the projected figure and the many billions of euro collected in stamp duty in the past ten years is significant.

I concur with Deputy O'Donoghue that the introduction of levies of 1% on all transactions up to €1 million and 2% on all transactions of more than €1 million will bring some element of certainty to the stamp duty regime. I suspect, however, that there are few houses in my constituency or that of the Minister which will sell for more than €1 million.

The debate on the stamp duty measure ignores one group which is about to be clobbered again. I refer to those who are caught in negative equity. Let us consider the case of a couple who bought their home for €400,000 or €500,000 at the height of the boom and paid the guts of €50,000 to the State by way of stamp duty. The value of their asset will have reduced by 40% or 50% and may be worth €300,000. If they are fortunate enough to be able to afford to sell their home, the will be hit a second time. Changes in the stamp duty regime and measures elsewhere in the budget do not do anything for those, including many of our constituents who are caught in negative equity.

Not once in his Budget Statement did the Minister for Finance refer to those caught up in this position. Notwithstanding that the measures will move us towards a better stamp duty system, one group is trapped in a nightmare. They were hit by the initial stamp duty they paid to the State, hit a second time by a substantial fall in the value of their asset and will be hit a third time if they are lucky enough to sell their house.

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