Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English. This issue relates to the need for the Minister for Finance to ensure that the introduction of a first-time buyer's tax relief is extended to those who have had to surrender their homes on foot of a court order, for example, those who have been divorced or those whose house has been repossessed. Starting over again will be a lot harder as the period between now and the retirement age of 66 is shorter and the repayments will be much higher. In many cases, people's circumstances have changed and they are now in a position to start over by buying a new home. However, those who have had to surrender a home on foot of a court order find they have to pay a deposit of 20% under the Central Bank rule. I ask the Minister for an extension of the tax relief scheme to include all those who have lost their homes on foot of a court order.

The Minister of State last week addressed the issue of local authority mortgages and I believe this needs to be addressed in the budget. The statistics in regard to mortgages issued through local authorities through the home choice loan scheme demonstrate that since 2009, only 21 loans have commenced, which is an average of just three a year over a period of seven years. This is a huge issue that needs to be addressed given that in the same period, some 1,100 standard local authority mortgages have commenced. I ask the Minister of State to examine the provision of mortgages through the local authorities and to extend the scheme and the cap, as there is an issue in this regard. Overall, some people are not qualifying for mortgages and this needs to be addressed.