Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The housing policy of this Government can be summed up by saying, "We need more houses, the market will provide them and we do not really care how or for whom they will be delivered". The bulk purchase of the 46 homes in Belcamp that were aimed at individual buyers has exposed the incompetence of the Government's plan and its lack of concern for home purchasers, homeless children, students, people on the housing waiting lists and older people. I will return to the latter group. In order to prevent this and disincentivise the vulture funds, Sinn Féin called for a higher rate of stamp duty to be applied to the purchase of homes by investment funds. It did so by tabling amendments to the Finance Bill in 2020 and by means of a Private Members' motion in May 2021, which the Government rejected.

The Government was warned by Sinn Féin that belated measures introduced in May 2021 would be insufficient, but the Government opened the door for the continued bulk purchases by investment funds of homes aimed at individual buyers, with 630 such homes being purchased at that time at the expense of individual home buyers.

I support this motion calling on the Government to introduce legislation to impose a stamp duty surcharge at a minimum rate of 17%. Earlier, I was sent a copy of the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act, which was recently introduced in order to prevent vulture funds edging out purchasers by banning the hedge funds from buying single family homes and making them sell them off.

While I have the Minister of State's attention, I want to raise with him an issue relating to older people. Some 600 to 700 people who are mostly elderly avail of the housing grant schemes in Kerry each year in the context of wet rooms, roofs, heating systems and bedroom and bathroom extensions. Quotes are now coming in for amounts that are way above the rate of inflation. The grants are capped at figures that were set a decade ago, so there is an increasing gap that has often to be filled by the elderly applicant who cannot afford it. I am asking for the cap relating to the grants to be raised.

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