John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will make three final brief points. I mentioned previously that the shared ownership scheme must be examined because as the mortgage part of the shared ownership goes down, the council's share of it goes up. I am aware in one case that when the mortgage is paid off the tenants will owe the council ¤35,000. We need to examine that. I made a submission on that to the then Minister of State, Deputy Willie Penrose.

Rent caps must be examined because they are all over the shop, so to speak. A rent cap for a single person in Roscommon town where one cannot get property is ¤69 and a rent cap for rural County Galway, just up the road, is ¤104.

I agree with the Senator who raised the issue of the second home property tax having to be paid in full for this year even though the new property tax will be introduced in July. That is unfair. There should be a way of dealing with it. If the ¤200 must be paid for some reason or another, a reduction of ¤100 in the property tax should be applicable to the person, and the Revenue should deal with that.