Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is welcome.

I commend the budget announced by the Minister for Finance, Deputy McGrath, today. I commend him, the Minister of State and the team in their Department on their comprehensive budget proposals. I especially welcome the increase of €100 in income tax credits for PAYE employees, the increase of €2,000 in the standard rate of income tax cut-off, which brings the entry to the higher rate of income tax to €42,000 and the reduction of the USC from 4.5% to 4%. I also welcome some individual measures, including the introduction of a one-year mortgage interest tax relief for homeowners with an outstanding balance on their primary dwelling of between €80,000 and €500,000 on 31 December and the increase of rent tax credits from €500 to €750 per year for 2024. I welcome the amendment that will allow parents who pay for their children's tenancies under the rent-a-room scheme, known as "digs", to claim the rent tax credit and that it will be backdated to allow for claims covering 2022 and 2023. These initiatives are hugely beneficial. I welcome the retention of the various other schemes such as the rent to buy scheme and the confirmation in respect of the residential zoned land tax, which was causing a certain amount of concern as some people were not aware of it and might have missed the deadlines. There was concern about whether it applied to actively farmed land. We have been allowed time to iron out these issues before the new rate is chargeable from January 2024. It is welcome that certainty is being provided to people. I commend the budget measures overall to the House.