Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I had intended to oppose section 6. However, I will make a few points about the help-to-buy scheme, which we are discussing in this recommendation. The extension of the scheme will have a full-year cost in 2023 of €175 million. In its current guise, the scheme has certain requirements of applicants.One must take out a mortgage of at least 70% of the cost to buy a newly built home or of the valuation approved by the mortgage provider if one is building a home. Among the findings of a report undertaken by Mazars and commissioned by the Department of Finance in July 2022 was that, "The scheme promotes demand for new housing in a market where the problems that exist are unequivocally supply constraints", which leads to a risk of price inflation in an already unaffordable market. It goes on to state:

Expenditure on the scheme has far surpassed projected values and is rising rapidly. This trend appears likely to continue and may accelerate ... The scheme is poorly targeted with respect to incomes, location, house prices and other socioeconomic factors. As a result, it has socially regressive impacts, there is considerable deadweight associated with the expenditure, and it is poorly aligned with spatial policies.

We have spoken against this inflationary help-to-buy scheme. It is no substitute for an affordable housing plan.

I put on record Sinn Féin's opposition to section 6 of the Bill. I have missed the opportunity to speak to that section because of the speed with which we have gone through the Bill. I am not blaming the Acting Chairperson for that. It is as much my fault.