Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Government's credibility will depend on the success of the housing strategy it announced some weeks ago and again in the budget a fortnight ago. Many young couples are disappointed that the Finance Bill does not provide any help to first-time buyers who purchase a second-hand home. It is also unclear whether repossessed houses in housing developments that fell into other people's hands will qualify as new houses. The help-to-buy scheme is unfair to persons whose first home was repossessed as these people never owned their homes because they were taken from them on the basis that they could not pay for them. It is sad that no facility has been provided to this group when they seek to buy a home. It is unfortunate and unfair that they will not be classed as a first-time buyer.

I am glad houses in County Kerry are not as expensive as in other places. I am aware of a farmer's son who wanted to borrow €100,000 from a bank to build a house. The bank would only lend him €180,000, which the amount it stated it would cost to complete the house. It would then be more suitable for the bank to get rid of the house if the young man found himself in the position that he could not pay for it. He only wanted to borrow €100,000 because he has brothers who work in the building trade and he could get other help to do much of the work involved. The bank will not give him less than €180,000, which would be grand except his income means he does not qualify for a mortgage of €180,000.

In other parts of the country, the help-to-buy scheme will assist first-time buyers paying up to €600,000 for a house. If a buyer needs to borrow 70% of the cost of €600,000 home, he or she will have to take out a mortgage of €420,000. To obtain such a facility from a bank, the borrower's gross annual income would have to be €120,000. People on incomes of €33,000 or at most €40,000 believe this is wrong because the scheme will help upper-income earners to the detriment of lower-income earners. The scheme seems to be designed for the wealthy rather than the poor. I and many others are very hurt by this because it is not fair that it facilitates people earning €120,000. Others have been left out, for example, people seeking to purchase a second-hand home to do up with funding from the home renovation scheme in order that they can put a roof over their heads.

The help-to-buy scheme is unworkable when one considers the figures. A person seeking a mortgage of €420,000 must have an 84% deposit. The Government's attempt to rectify the housing problem is poor and will not succeed. We also have many other problems in the housing sector. It is clear, for example, that only four or five construction companies will qualify under procurement rules to tender for national or State building schemes. This is unfortunate because smaller builders who have stood the test of time will not get a look in or a smell of these tenders. They will do the building for the bigger companies and many of them will not get paid, as happened many times in the past. This is very unfortunate. Many issues need to be rectified but the budget made no attempt to do so. The biggest problem facing the country is housing and we are not properly addressing the social housing aspect of the problem.

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