Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators who made a contribution today and I will respond as best I can. There will be an opportunity to go into detail on the Bill on a section by section basis when it is examined on Committee Stage tomorrow morning. The Bill gives effect to some of the decisions announced on 1 June as part of the Government's economic plan, which sets out a new phase of supports for this next stage of recovery as businesses reopen. Many speakers acknowledged the scale and speed of the Government's response with various schemes which have been practical and helped many businesses and individuals.

It extends the EWSS to 31 December 2021 and provides for the retention of the current enhanced subsidy rates until 30 September 2021. It extends the CRSS and provides for additional payments on reopening. It provides for a new business resumption support scheme. This new scheme is designed to support some of the worst affected businesses in the pandemic, especially those that continue to be significantly impacted even after the easing of public health restrictions. It provides that the reduced rate of VAT of 9% applying on a temporary basis to hospitality and tourism-related goods and services will be extended until 31 August 2022. It provides for the extension of tax debt warehousing, with debts now warehoused throughout 2021, remaining interest free throughout 2022 and with a reduced interest rate of 3% starting in 2023 until the debt is paid.

Finally, it provides for a new stamp duty rate which will be a significant disincentive to the practice of multiple purchase by institutional investors of large parts of or whole housing estates before they reach the market, thus denying first-time buyers an opportunity to purchase a home. It does this by imposing the 10% charge where ten or more liable residential units are acquired in a 12-month period. The Minister made it clear when the financial resolution was passed by the Dáil on 19 May that he would place the resolution on a permanent statutory footing in the next number of weeks and this Bill will achieve that. Multiple purchases of houses by local authorities, affordable housing bodies, and the Housing Agency are exempt from the 10% charge, as are private sector participants in the mortgage-to-rent area.

The Government has decided that apartments are also exempt from the 10% rate. Otherwise, there would be a significant risk that developers would exit from the apartment building market, as such projects would no longer be viable and an important element of our future housing strategy would be lost. A person who has paid stamp duty at the 10% rate on the acquisition of a residential unit will be able to claim a refund of part of the stamp duty paid if and when the residential unit is leased to a local authority or an approved housing body for social housing purposes. It is very specific to such cases. I hope, given this situation where we need many housing units for so many people on waiting lists, that people will not object to the principle that the stamp duty be refunded in those cases. Otherwise, who will pay for it? It will be the local authorities in increased rents. Where does that money come from? The taxpayer. It is important to stress that.

This will address the concern that the charging of additional stamp duty on the acquisition of such residential units will act as a disincentive to persons who might have been planning to acquire multiple units for onward leasing to a local authority or an approved housing body and thereby reduce the supply of social housing. It is important to make the move at this stage rather than coming back in six or 12 months time to find this has been a cause of problem and delay. The people opposite will be the first to say we should have foreseen this. We are foreseeing it now, preventing the issue becoming a problem before it arises, dealing with it up front on a proactive basis to make sure it does not become an issue.

Assertions that the exemption provided in this Bill for the acquisition of houses that are then leased to local authorities for social housing purposes was somehow underhandedly inserted at the last minute do no stand up to scrutiny when examined against the facts of the situation. The financial resolution when introduced on 19 May was an emergency measure to address the immediate issue of the multiple purchase of homes by institutional investors. There was limited time available for drafting the measure. Therefore, it focused on addressing the basic requirements only.However, in doing this the Minister was always aware that he could broaden the scope of the exemption, if he thought it necessary when putting the financial resolution on a permanent basis. In this regard, he stated in the House on 19 May: "Other social or affordable housing arrangements will be considered as part of the legislation which will be brought before the Houses in the next few months to permanently underpin this resolution." That statement was a very clear signal that, aside from the existing local authority and approved housing body exemptions, other social and affordable housing exemptions were being considered. That was flagged and stated in public, but because of the emergency nature of measures - we all remember how quickly we had the debate - the full details could not be worked out at very short notice. However, there was a clear signal that it was on its way. When the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, introduced the Bill to the Dáil on Second Stage on 1 July, he announced the Minister for Finance's intention, which was: "on the advice of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, to introduce an amendment on Committee Stage to facilitate an exemption from the 10% stamp duty charge in circumstances where houses are bought by investors for leasing to local authorities". Therefore the path was laid for this leasing measure on 19 May when the Minister indicated that other social and affordable housing exemptions were being examined. At the first available opportunity, the Minister of State subsequently confirmed that it would be introduced as a Committee Stage amendment. Therefore, I do not accept that anything inappropriate or untoward has taken place, since standard due process has been followed in relation to the introduction of this measure. I look forward to further examination of the Bill on Committee Stage tomorrow.

The Government has responded to the impact of the pandemic with a broad range of supports across a range of Departments, which have made a real difference to people's lives throughout the country. The economic summer statement is due shortly, which will outline and deal with the requests people made about the long-term debt cost to the Exchequer. As we have shown, when it is necessary in these emergency situations to run a deficit, we will do so, and as soon as is practicable and appropriate we will move back to a balanced budget. I look forward to discussing the details of the Bill on Committee Stage tomorrow.