Seán Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)

I support the reduction in the stamp duty rates to 1% and 2% and hope the measure will boost the housing market. The banks must come up to the mark following this measure because people who are seeking loans and are capable of repaying them are being stymied by banks' refusing to lend to them.

While I acknowledge Deputy Rabbitte's point regarding the abolition of exemptions for first-time buyers and purchases of houses with certain floor areas and so forth, all taxes should be made as simple as possible. In this respect, the introduction of a 1% rate of stamp duty for properties sold for less than €1 million and a 2% rate for properties sold for in excess of €1 million is the correct approach.

Deputy Noonan suggested that the National Asset Management Agency should dump a couple of billion euro worth of housing on the market to achieve floor prices. I agree with the thinking behind the Deputy's proposal, albeit not the process. Recently, a number of housing estates were placed on the market by receivers or liquidators at low prices. NAMA and the banks should exert pressure to accelerate the process in respect of companies that are in dire trouble from which they will not be able to emerge. A housing bank should be placed on the market to create a floor in prices.

I concur with Deputy Morgan on the changes to DIRT tax. An increase of 2% in the rate is reasonable because a substantial amount of the money held in savings should be invested in businesses to create employment.

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