Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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119. To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that unlike commercial landlords, owner-occupiers and social landlords cannot write-off their defects levies against their tax liabilities (details supplied); and if he will ensure that Budget 2022 contains measures to assist owner-occupiers and social housing providers who have paid or are paying levies for remediating defects. [49397/21]

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, any intervention by me would seem to be premature at this point.