Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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104. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will address a query raised in correspondence by a person (details supplied) in County Cork regarding the help-to-buy scheme. [41315/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, one of the central policy aims of the Help to Buy initiative is to help make mortgages more accessible to first-time buyers, many of whom have difficulty securing the required deposit under the Central Bank macro-prudential rules. Individuals who are in a position to avail of a mortgage at a lower loan-to-value ratio than 70% are considered to have sufficient resources to more than meet the deposit requirements of the macro-prudential rules and thus are less in need of assistance from the Exchequer.

Based on the information supplied by the Deputy, it is unclear as to how his constituent's property is being valued for the purposes of Help to Buy. However, I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that if the Deputy could provide all relevant details around the circumstances of any particular relevant property purchase to them, they will arrange to have the matter looked into.