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

I agree with the Deputy. I believe the scheme should be abandoned, but at the very least we should have the cost-benefit analysis and the Minister should set out clearly how he is going to monitor the benefits and effectiveness of this. To the minds of a very broad spectrum of opinion, including expert opinion, this is something that has actually contributed to the spiralling house prices. It has accrued no real benefit to those at whom it was to be targeted, but has had unintended benefits for people who frankly do not need them. Given the squeeze on resources and the desperate need to put resources where they will actually have an impact on the current housing and homelessness crisis, anything less than a proper cost-benefit analysis of this measure, which costs a lot of public money, is not really acceptable.

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