Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is disappointing that the Minister has not been prepared to identify the likely yield from the taxation of these companies. The practice of these companies is very often to drive up rents, which they have already done in the Irish market in a significant way and to focus on relatively short-term to medium-term investment timeframes of five to seven years. If that is the outturn, this means there is a very narrow window of opportunity for the Exchequer to ensure that taxation is paid by these companies. As I said, they have been to the fore in raising rents, as well as buying properties cheaply. Does the Minister propose to introduce further legislation to normalise the activities of these companies and to restrict their extreme profit-taking from the Exchequer?

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