Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Section 16 concerns the help to buy scheme. We disagree with this scheme. The original costing suggested that the scheme would cost €130 million in total, however, we know that by August 2019, the cost was €206.4 million. The aim of the scheme is to help first-time buyers raise the 10% deposit to purchase a property but we know that the average help to buy purchase was above the average price of residential properties in 2018. There is no need for this scheme and it is using money that could be used to solve the housing crisis. The report produced on it shows that the scheme has failed to benefit all of the regions of the country as well, with 60% of claims being made in Dublin. More worryingly, the report shows that the scheme has been disproportionately availed of by higher-income earners so it is out of reach of the vast majority of earners. Only 13% of sales through the scheme involved properties costing less than €225,000 and more than a fifth of the houses were bought for more than €375,000. This is not an affordable housing scheme. Basically, 40% of people who used this scheme already had the 10% deposit and did not need it so it failed to help the majority of people to get on the property ladder. It has not done anything to reduce housing prices. It is simply being priced in. The cost of the scheme has been €206.4 million but it has failed to benefit those who need help the most and has done nothing to reduce the cost of housing. On that basis, we will be opposing section 16.