Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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424. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the reintroduction and extension of the home renovation incentive scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32986/20]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Home Renovation Incentive (HRI) was introduced by Section 477B of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 in 2014 and was terminated in accordance with its statutory sunset clause on 31 December 2018 having been extended twice before that and having been seen to have met its original objective viz. support for job creation in the construction sector in the wake of the financial crisis.

The re-introduction of such an incentive, even for a modified purpose, could be very costly. I must be mindful of the public finances and the many demands on the Exchequer; tax reliefs, no matter how worthwhile in themselves, lead to a narrowing of the tax base. Under my Department's Tax Expenditure Guidelines, the introduction of new tax incentive measures, or the continuation of measures which are due to terminate, should only be considered in circumstances where there is a demonstrable market failure and where a tax based incentive is more efficient than a direct expenditure intervention.

I have no plans to re-introduce the scheme.