Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy has noted, 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 on 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 identify options for those impacted by defects to access low-cost, long-term finance.

The final report of the Working Group is due shortly, and I will consider any recommendations that might envisage tax expenditures in the light of my Department's Tax Expenditure Guidelines. These are clear that a tax-based intervention should only be considered where it would be more efficient than a direct expenditure measure.

The introduction of such measures is a matter that would fall to be considered in the context of Budget 2023 and the subsequent Finance Bill. Therefore, at this point, any intervention along the lines mentioned by the Deputy would seem to be premature.