Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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204. To ask the Minister for Finance the cost of retaining mortgage interest relief in its current form post 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16477/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that any estimates related to the cost of mortgage interest relief (MIR) beyond 2017 must be very tentative because they depend on a number of factors including the extent of mortgage redemption, mortgage interest arrears and mortgage interest rates. 

Bearing in mind such caveats and on the basis of retaining the same rates of relief, maintaining the same ceilings on allowable interest and a comparable uptake of the relief to previous years, it is tentatively estimated that the cost of retaining MIR beyond 2017 would be in the order of €184 million per annum. This figure is based on the cost of tax relief at source for mortgage interest in 2016, the latest year for which figures are available.

In my Budget speech last October, I confirmed my intention to extend MIR beyond the current end date on a tapered basis to 2020, in line with the commitment in the programme for Government. The details of the extension will be set out in Budget 2018. A review of policy considerations and potential costs of such an extension was contained in the Income Tax Reform Plan published by my Department in July last year and may be of interest to the Deputy. The plan is available at:

www.finance.gov.ie/sites/default/files/Income%20Tax%20Reform%20Plan-FINAL_0.pdf.