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

The Minister has now used the phrase "well in advance" on three separate occasions. What I interpret from his comments is that he is preparing the ground for the abolition of the help-to-buy scheme, but he will give notice to prospective buyers and the market of that course of action. This matters to people. There are first-time buyers who are wondering whether they should try to buy now and definitely avail of the scheme, or if they should wait until next year when they will have saved more money in order that they will have to borrow less in order to enter the property market and buy their first home. This impacts on real people and the life-changing decisions they have to make; it is important, therefore, to bring clarity to the situation. The speculation and uncertainty were directly caused by the Government's intervention in the first place and then by the comments made in which very strong hints were given. It has been widely written about by independent commentators, for example, Davy, all of whom all making the point that it seems that the scheme is about to be brought to an end.

See this speech in context