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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 13 together.

This is a scheme to assist first-time purchasers with the deposit they need to buy or build a new house or apartment. The incentive gives a refund of income tax and deposit interest retention tax, DIRT, paid in the State over the previous four years, subject to certain limits.

The scheme was enhanced in 2020 as part of the July stimulus and, in the Finance Act 2020, the enhanced arrangements were extended until the end of this year. Following a commitment in the Housing for All strategy, my Department carried out a review of the scheme as part of its tax strategy group deliberations. The resultant paper was published last week and is available on the Government website.

In the coming weeks, in the run up to the budget, I will be taking stock of where matters stand and taking decisions regarding the help-to-buy scheme having regard to a number of elements, including the overall policy context in which the scheme operates and my Department's deliberations as set out in the recent tax strategy group paper.

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