Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the reintroduction of 400 career guidance posts, an action contained in the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil confidence and supply agreement. It was agreed at the time that this Government would reintroduce guidance counselling to secondary schools and budget 2017 saw that reintroduction with the restoration of 400 guidance posts, commencing in September 2017. In 2012, 600 guidance posts were lost and we hope the number will increase over the years. It is a welcome development and something that should have been done a long time ago.

I also raise the issue of the help-to-buy grant for first-time buyers, which I have mentioned before in the House. Will the Leader of the House bring it to the attention of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, that although the scheme is starting to work, the administration is very slow? Many applicants are finding it very difficult to get their claim numbers and they have had to go to the Revenue Commissioners office up to three times to do it. They should be able to do this online and there should be a number for a direct line for people to sort this out. No grants have been given to date, and from an administration perspective, the resources do not seem to have been given to the Revenue Commissioners to deal with the number of people applying for these grants. It can be very worrying, especially for first-time buyers who are very nervous about the purchasing process. When there are so many people looking to buy in the market, builders can pick and choose who will buy the houses. There is a fear among first-time buyers that they could lose their house if they do not have a claim number. Will the Minister put first-time buyers at ease and allocate more resources to the Revenue Commissioners to deal with the number of people making applications for the help-to-buy scheme?