Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister is setting out that more than 38,000 people have benefited from the scheme. My question relates to the analysis that has been done. The Minister is selectively quoting from Mazars and other reports. As he well knows, this scheme was introduced in January 2017, which is more than six years ago. It was estimated that it would cost €40 million annually. It turned out it cost €175 million in 2022 and it looks like it will cost up to €1 billion. Mazars stated: "The scheme is poorly targeted with respect to incomes, location, house prices and other socioeconomic factors ... [and] has socially regressive impacts". It goes on to state the scheme has "deadweight". According to the Parliamentary Budget Office, one third of the recipients did not need the help-to-buy scheme to meet the 10% deposit. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, has stated that a review of the help-to-buy scheme "suggests that many households with large deposits have received support under the scheme", which is likely to contribute to higher house prices. The Minister stated there is no definitive evidence regarding an increase in house prices, but there are serious concerns regarding this scheme and who it is benefiting.

See this speech in context