Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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221. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will introduce taxation measures to address the unfair situation whereby commercial landlords who make up 60% of apartment and duplex owners can write off their defect levies against their tax liabilities, whereas owner-occupiers and social landlords cannot; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48392/21]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, has established an Independent Working Group to examine the issue of defective housing. Officials from my Department participate in this Working Group. The objectives of the group are to identify the scope of relevant significant defects in housing, to evaluate the scale of housing affected, to propose a means of prioritising defects, to evaluate the cost of remediation, to recommend appropriate mechanisms for resolving defects and, to consider financing options in line with the Programme for Government commitment to identifying options for those impacted by defects to access low-cost, long-term finance.

Separately, my Department's Tax Expenditure Guidelines are clear that a tax-based intervention should only be considered where it would be more efficient than a direct expenditure measure.

In the circumstances, consideration of an intervention along the lines mentioned by the Deputy would seem to be premature at this point.