Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Tax relief in respect of rent paid was abolished in budget 2011 and is no longer available to those who commenced renting for the first time from 8 December 2010. This followed a recommendation of the 2009 report by the Commission on Taxation that rent relief should be discontinued. The view of this independent commission was that, in the same manner in which mortgage interest relief increased the cost of housing, rent relief increased the cost of private rented accommodation. Accordingly, the result of reintroducing this relief could well be a transfer of Exchequer funding directly to landlords, which would not have the intended effect of reducing the pressure on tenants. In addition, a tax credit of this nature would be of little benefit to lower-income workers, the unemployed and students, who might not receive the relief as they might not be paying sufficient levels of income tax.

We have other measures in place that seek to deal with the great challenge of rising rents that has been described by Deputies Pearse Doherty and Mairéad Farrell. This is why there is legislation in place on rental pressure zones and why, for example, measures have been in place during the pandemic to protect tenants from pressures they could face and are facing from their landlords. It is for these reasons and others that I do not propose to accept this amendment.

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