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

It amazes that the Minister does not acknowledge the scale of the damage and distortion the movement of these funds into the property market has caused. I ask him to tell us, although I know that he will not, how much tax has been forgone as a result of section 110 and the REIT tax breaks. We can never get an answer to that question. They are still benefiting from them and, as we know, they just sat on properties and jacked up rents, worsening the housing crisis. I even logged onto PricewaterhouseCoopers' website today to see what it had to say about section 110. It is boasting, stating one should invest here because one would not have to pay any tax. "Tax neutral" is the wording used and what is being touted by these accountancy firms. They state people should get involved in the property market in Ireland because one would not have to pay any tax, there will be flexible and favourable domestic tax law reliefs and that Ireland allows for neutral treatment of corporation tax, provided certain conditions are met, blah, blah, blah. The Minister shows no interest in looking at this scandal, given what has been done to the property market.

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