Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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76. To ask the Minister for Finance if a person who purchased the family home in December 2014 is entitled to a refund of deposit interest retention tax on savings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8314/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that Finance Act 2014 inserted a new section 266A into the Taxes Consolidation Act (TCA) 1997.  That section provides for a repayment of Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) on certain savings held by a qualifying first time purchaser prior to the purchase of a home, where that purchase is made between 14 October 2014 and 31 December 2017.

A qualifying first-time purchaser is a person who, at the time of the purchase, has not previously purchased or built any other dwelling, either individually or jointly with any other person.

The section provides for repayment of DIRT paid in respect of interest earned by a first-time purchaser in the 48 months prior to the purchase of a dwelling for use as his/her place of residence. This repayment is limited to DIRT relating to deposits of up to 20% of the purchase price of the home.

Revenue is currently developing an online system to facilitate applications for these DIRT repayments and will publish further details in the coming weeks.