Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is an altruistic position because, as the Minister says, what a person is trying to do is make decisions in the best interests perhaps not of themselves but of their children and helping them to plan their lives. As the Minister says, these mortgages are paid off after tax from net income with tax rates extremely high and with no other source of support from the State. It is about being able to give certainty to people at a time of deep uncertainty, which we have had through Covid and that is of unknown duration. People can cling to something that is certain, which is that they have paid off their mortgage and they know they have done that. To be able to care for and make provision for their children, but not always other family members, is a very primal concern. I thank the Minister for his response. It will give important comfort to the type of people whom I have described who have worked extremely hard in this State as teachers, nurses and in various professions - the ordinary people of Ireland who have paid off their mortgages and who genuinely are concerned about this issue.

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