Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

We discussed this issue at length. Deputy Doherty's amendment covers similar territory to that covered in the previous discussion and some of the discussions we had earlier, so there is not a lot to add other than to ask if there is any recognition on the part of the Government that we have a property bubble. Is there any concern about that, and that these property-based tax incentives, the very thing that led to the last bubble and crash, are producing similar effects again and that we should be doing something to prevent that from happening? It will be on the Minister's head when this property bubble comes crashing down again. It is already having a devastating social impact in terms of housing and homelessness and the rental crisis, which is reaching across society.

It does not affect just the people on the very lowest incomes, but also working people in relatively well-paid jobs who are unable to afford a roof over their heads because there is a property bubble as a result of a group of super rich speculators who think it is okay to profit from the crisis and the shortage of housing. They are having an absolute bonanza at the expense of the misery of huge numbers of our citizens. This bubble is staring us in the face, yet the Minister insists on retaining this elaborate architecture of property-based tax incentives. The Minister is completely refusing to acknowledge in any shape or form that there is a very serious problem that his policies have contributed to creating.

If he is not willing to close down these crazy tax loopholes for speculators, the very least the Minister could do is carry out a proper study in which we can look in detail at how it is all working, what impacts it is having, how much tax is forgone, who is benefiting from it and what is the impact of it on wider society, housing, rents and all the rest of it. I am frankly flabbergasted as to the Minister's motives in all of this. I was even asking Deputies during the break what the thinking behind this could be. The only conclusion I can come to is that the Government is completely hostage to these speculators via the Clearing House Group. That group seems to exercise influence on the Government in order that it puts these measures in place. It then advertises on its websites to invite investors and speculators to come to Ireland, the best little country in the world in which to pay no tax.

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