Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, the budget announcement regarding the defective concrete blocks levy smacked of an ill-timed, ill-judged decision. It is expected this levy will raise €80 million annually. It will commence on 3 April 2023. The levy will result in a 10% increase in the cost of concrete, concrete materials, sills, lintels, hollow-core floor slabs and concrete blocks. At a time when thriving inflation within the construction industry is creating havoc for young people who are trying to build their own houses and for local authorities that are trying to build social housing, this will add to the overall cost of the building of all infrastructure in this country. The levy will bring in €80 million net per annum, according to the announcement yesterday, but it will not penalise people who did wrong; rather, it will impose an additional cost on people who are trying to build or buy their own homes and trying not to be a burden on the State.

I ask the Taoiseach to think about this matter on the basis that the Government is putting additional inflation into the construction market. It is going to add further costs to all public works contracts by increasing the cost of a vital component that is used on every building site and in every civil engineering contract in this country, as well as in housing construction. It baffles me to think that this is being introduced at a time when we are trying to curb inflation. There is no doubt that every concrete supplier in this country will add the cost to their sales; they will not take it on themselves. It is wrong for young people and the taxpayer to be asked to pay for this when the cost of building a house has risen by €40,000 or €50,000 in the past 12 months. The Government is proposing to add at least another €2,000 onto that additional cost. It is a penal levy on young people and others trying to do something on their own.

See this speech in context