Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In paragraph (1)(a)(i) of the Resolution to delete "6 per cent" and substitute "6 per cent, except where purchased for farming purposes providing that the land is held for farming purposes for a minimum period of 5 years".

No one has a problem with commercial property. There are two types of stamp duty, residential and non-residential. Anybody who talks to an auctioneer will know the first acre and the house is considered residential and is liable for the low rate of stamp duty. Other than that, the stamp duty on farmland is 2%. We have only two types at the moment. There is ambiguity in the resolution because a farmer who buys farmland - I am not talking about commercial land - will move to the other rate because there are only two types at the moment. If a farmer has a house and an acre, there is one rate, and if he or she buys 50 acres of land it will be under the other rate. I have tabled the amendment for clarity for the Government and farmers. The scenario at the moment is that if someone buys farmland and two or three years down the road they have done the duty on it, they can turn it into whatever they want. What I am saying is a farmer who buys land at the moment will now face the problem that the stamp duty will go to 6%. I have tabled a short amendment so that the stamp duty on land bought for farm use will be left at 2% if the farmer gives an undertaking that it will be used for up to five years, which is fair. That is all I am asking the Minister to do.

See this speech in context