Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The speculation is within the Government - by the Taoiseach; the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, and anonymous sources within the Government - with strong hints that the help-to-buy scheme may well not survive for very much longer. The Minister knows what our position is. The impact analysis should have been made in advance of the scheme being introduced. As it was not, we insisted on it being done immediately and it is now due to be completed by the end of August, as the Minister said. However, the position is that the speculation triggered by comments made by members of the Government has caused a huge amount of uncertainty in the property market. We have a situation where prospective first-time buyers are inevitably going to rush into the market at a time when there is a very small stock of new housing units available. This will inevitably lead to a spike in the prices of the very small number of new homes available. I want to know when the Minister is going to clarify the position to bring an end to the uncertainty. If he does have the report at the end of August, will he wait until budget time in mid-October to make an announcement, even if it is very clear from the independent report that the help-to-buy scheme is, in fact, pushing up prices?

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