Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I wish to address the emergency legislation that will be considered tonight by the Cabinet. The Irish Timeshas posted a report that the Cabinet is considering the idea of increasing stamp duty to 10% on multiple purchases and that multiple purchases would be defined as the purchase of more than ten houses. In the case of a €250,000 house, the ordinary house buyer would pay stamp duty of €2,500 whereas the investment fund would pay stamp duty of €25,000. We can set that against a recent comment in the Business Postto the effect that approved housing bodies had in some cases been outbid by up to €80,000 per house over the preceding four weeks. If that report is anywhere near the truth, it indicates that the Government's proposal falls well short of what is necessary.

The Dáil has heard reports of the UK Government introducing a 15% stamp duty rate for investment funds, a measure that had to be strengthened before it did the job that it was meant to do. If I were the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, I would simply ban investment funds from snapping up houses in housing estates. If we are going to take the stamp duty route, though, we need to go well beyond 10%. Why not have a stamp duty rate of 100%? No ordinary person would be affected by that, as he or she would not be buying multiple houses in the current market. Why has the Government set the number at more than ten houses? What ordinary person is going to buy seven, eight or nine houses? If we are going to stop speculation in the housing market, the number should be much lower than ten. The legislation must apply to apartments and existing developments, cover corporation tax and capital gains tax for the vultures, and include not only stamp duty increases but also increases in the rent roll.

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