Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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191. To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated revenue from an annual levy on the profits in the residential building sector, similar to the proposed levy in the UK in light of the Grenfell disaster, at rates of 5%, 10% and 15% respectively in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45305/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by Revenue that it is not possible to separately identify the profits associated with the residential building sector from other construction industry profits and, therefore, it is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of the potential revenues from a levy on these profits.

Imposing additional taxes on certain economic sectors would involve increased complexity in our corporate tax regime, and could also have other unintended consequences. For example, while it is possible that imposing such a levy could lead to theoretical gains, there is also a risk that it could lead to lower levels of economic activity, or to a pass-through of increased costs to consumers. These are matters requiring careful consideration in light of the housing pressures that we are currently facing, and the more general inflationary pressures in the economy.

Separately, and in line with a Programme for Government commitment, the Minister for Housing, Darragh O’Brien TD, established a working group to examine defects in housing. The group’s terms of reference are focused on fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects in purpose built apartment buildings, including duplexes, constructed between 1991 and 2013. The Report of the working group was published in July of this year and is available at: www.gov.ie/en/publication/97c19-working-group-to-examine-defects-in-housing/