Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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61. To ask the Minister for Finance the way in which his Department will respond to the housing situation in the short term in view of the necessities to so do from both an economic and social position; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11486/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government’s primary response to current issues in the housing market is contained in ‘Rebuilding Ireland: An Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness’. The Department of Finance is the lead Department on 8 of the 168 actions in the plan. In the latest status report on the Action Plan, published on January 25th, 7 of the 8 actions associated with my Department were complete. The one remaining action – concerning private sector investment in social housing through long term leases – is on schedule.

Increasing supply is key to addressing the current difficulties in the housing market. In addition to the measures contained in the Action Plan, Budget 2018 contained a number of initiatives aimed at increasing the supply of new homes. Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI) will boost the supply of debt funding to residential development. Utilising up to €750 million from the Irish Strategic Investment Fund, HBFI will fund new housing construction across all regions in the country. An additional €500 million was allocated to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government to build a further 3,000 social housing units by 2021. An extra €75 million is also being provided under the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund. Budget 2018 included an increase to the rate applicable under the vacant site levy in the second and subsequent years of vacancy. This will provide a strong incentive to landowners to either develop their land or sell them for the purpose of development. In Budget 2018, I also increased the rate of stamp duty applicable on the sale of non-residential property from 2% to 6%. This measure will help incentivise a re-balancing of activity away from non-residential commercial construction in favour of residential activity. It will also ensure that the construction sector is able to meet the demand for residential property, while avoiding overheating in the sector as a whole.