Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party)
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235. To ask the Minister for Finance if his Department will consider a tax credit for owner occupiers of defective homes in Budget 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14037/22]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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239. To ask the Minister for Finance if he intends to introduce tax credits for owner occupiers and social landlords who have paid or are paying levies to fund the remediation of defects against their tax liabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14131/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 235 and 239 together.

As the Deputy may 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. A final paper is due to be completed by Q2 2022.

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.