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

I move amendment No. 24:

In page 20, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following:“13.The Minister shall, within nine months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before the Oireachtas a comprehensive cost benefit analysis of the Help to Buy Scheme.”.

This amendment relates to the help to buy scheme. The wording of my amendment is taken directly from a recommendation in the Indecon report which calls for a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of the scheme to be undertaken after a period, because given the limited timeframe since the measure was introduced, this report inevitably can only represent a preliminary assessment. In essence, the report found it was too early to determine the impact of the scheme on house prices and the supply of new residential properties.

The report was critical of the Government for not conducting a cost-benefit evaluation of the scheme prior to its introduction. It states that while there were understandable reasons for this, Indecon was concerned that this should not be seen as a precedent for other measures. The wording mirrors what is in the Indecon report. Just like the commitment of the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, that the report on the possible introduction of a vacant home tax would be published in advance of budget day, the same commitment should be given in respect of a cost-benefit analysis of the help to buy scheme in 2018.

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