Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is regrettable that we are rehashing the same arguments and counter arguments and that I must now rebut the argument being made by the Minister of State. This is unfortunate, because the amendment is about taking us forward. The main justification for the Department's argument is that an individual can apply for a housing adaptation grant or disability grant to do the type of work I have mentioned. The work might not mean installing ramps, a stair lift or lowering cupboards. It could, for example, involve building a single room with an en suite or shower room to suit the person's circumstances. Therefore, let us park on the side the notion that it is about fitting out a house.

The Minister of State mentioned the grant. The grant is means tested, so if a person's means are at a certain level, he will not get the grant. Also, one must live in the house to get the grant and cannot apply for the grant for a house one does not live in. Therefore, an individual who wants to purchase a house but needs to make adaptations to the house to be able to live in it is not eligible to apply for the grant. The argument in this regard is a non-argument. The point is that if I purchase a second hand house and build the extension or install the stair lift, I will get the VAT reduction as a result of this legislation. However, if I buy a newly furbished fully fitted house, I will not get the VAT reduction, despite the fact I need to carry out the same adaptions for an individual in the same circumstances.

There is a flaw in the legislation in this regard. This flaw could be easily amended by including, where we are dealing with new houses that were completely finished by including a provision for works for the purpose of adaptations for people with special needs. A number of people have come to me about this issue and I know people who have been in circumstances similar to this. We have amended legislation previously. Despite my opposition to the local property tax, I put forward an amendment which was carried. It dealt with individuals who extended their houses to meet particular special needs circumstances and provided that the extension would not be taken into consideration in terms of the value of the house. There is a precedent for doing this in legislation. As late as one year ago, the Government acknowledged the precedent of this category of people. Unfortunately, there is a discriminatory element built into this legislation, whereby a person who purchases a previously occupied house can avail of the tax credit, but a person who purchases a new house will not be able to avail of it.

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