Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy well knows, when I advocated in opposition for mortgage interest relief, it was for an extension of the relief, which was successfully secured by the then Opposition. Those are the facts and the Deputy knows that. He referred to the surplus this year, which, as he knows well, is coming from windfall corporation tax receipts, so the Government has to take that into account in the decisions we make. The commitment I have given is that in the lead-up to the budget, we will consider all the options. There are going to be a lot of demands on the Exchequer. The Deputy rightly highlighted the plight of many mortgage holders and I acknowledge, of course, the significant additional burden the seven increases have placed on many mortgage holders.

Nevertheless, there are others, too, who will make the case for taxpayers' support, such as renters, workers in the context of income tax relief and people on social welfare. Sinn Féin was calling in the House earlier for increases in core social welfare rates and help for pensioners as well. There are a lot of demands and calls for limited State resources. We will consider all options. I am conscious of the impact on mortgage holders but we will have to consider it in the context of the budget.

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