Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I first pay credit to the credit union movement because today is International Credit Union Day. I thank the movement personally because its members worked very closely with me in developing the micro-credit scheme. I hope the eventual outcome of the scheme will be the closing down of what I call the legal money lenders, who charge up to 130% interest rates to many people in deprived areas who cannot access money elsewhere. The credit union movement played a key role in rolling out the micro-credit scheme, which is worth €100 million as an anti-poverty strategy, so it has been successful and I hope it grows from success to success.

Very often I have used the floor of the Seanad to criticise the new politics and ask what it is. However, reading Fiach Kelly's article in The Irish Timesthis morning in which the Minister for Finance is quoted as saying he will now adjust the help-to-buy plan, it is positive when a Government can see it has made a mistake and then start making adjustments. However, several more adjustments need to be made to the help-to-buy scheme. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor, wanted to attract people coming back to Ireland. Many people I know who emigrated want to come back to Ireland but will not be able to compete with other families buying houses. They will be disadvantaged because they will not be able to get the tax benefits due to their having to work abroad for many years.

The other element of the budget I ask the Leader to consider is the lack of any measures to benefit renters. There have been tax cuts for landlords and an increase in the threshold for the rent-a-room scheme but absolutely nothing for people who are in rental accommodation.