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

On the additional points that the Deputy has made, 11% of the purchases that were made of homes in our country over the past 12 months or so were covered by the help-to-buy scheme. I do not accept that a scheme that supports the purchase of approximately one in ten homes is itself the cause of the significant house price inflation that we are facing. The cause of where we are at the moment is the well documented and understood issues relating to lack of supply that the Government is making progress on. Some 60% of those who used the help-to-buy scheme, on the analysis that we have done, did so while needing this scheme to help fund their deposits to buy their first home. That is valuable help. It is help that nearly 30,000 people have benefited from and they need it. However, the issues to which the Deputy referred and the questions that she posed will be looked at in the review of the scheme, which will take place next year.

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