Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As I said on Second Stage, I bought a three-bedroom semi-detached house in Dublin for ¤580,000 in 2007 and know all about it. That is our position.

My question relates to the Minister's response on exemptions, not that on charities. When the measure is introduced, a review will be important. A fundamental mistake is to provide for exemptions, for specified periods, for first-time buyers and the purchasers of new or vacant houses. Without making any prediction on future values, most independent experts, people involved in the property market and lay people such as me recognise the value to be had. I find it hard to marry the provision for an exemption for those who can afford to buy good quality houses with the failure to provide one for others.

The Government is proposing that someone who buys a house in a certain estate for ¤200,000 with a very sustainable mortgage should be exempt from the property tax, provided the house meets certain criteria, while a person who had to pay ¤500,000 for the same type of standard house in the same estate and who may be struggling to pay his or her mortgage should not be exempt. The same applies to a new house. I really do not understand this and believe it would have been better to consider exemptions for the tens of thousands who paid large amounts of stamp duty, as referred to in the Thornhill report. I understand the Minister's difficulty in that people who pay must pay more to cover exemptions, but I make this point on the basis that he is providing for an exemption for those who can ? fair play to them ? buy good houses at a great discount of 50% or 60%. The latter are winning in both ways. I am not trying to crucify the people concerned, but I do not understand the logic in doing what is proposed, considering that those who paid more and paid stamp duty will not be exempt.

The Minister has stated it is appropriate for the Government to use measures to try to stimulate the housing market. I am not actually sure, based on what occurred when Governments did get involved. I recall the clamour in 2002 and 2003 when there was an insufficient supply of houses. There was a general discussion before I became a Member of the fact that not enough houses were being built. The market went nuts from approximately 2005 or 2006.