Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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86. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will detail in tabular form on a county basis how many homebuyers in each county have availed of the enhanced help-to-buy scheme since 23 July 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34457/23]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The original Help to Buy (HTB) Scheme allowed for relief to the lesser of:

• €20,000

• 5% of the purchase price or approved valuation

• The amount of Income Tax (IT) and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) paid for the 4 years prior to when the application is made

The enhanced HTB scheme allows for relief to the lesser of:

• €30,000

• 10% of the purchase price or approved valuation

• The amount of IT and DIRT paid for the 4 years prior to when the application is made

Where the relief allowed is less than €20,000, it is not possible, in the available data, to classify claims as being subject to the Enhanced HTB scheme, as their relief allowed may have been limited by their Income Tax and DIRT paid, rather than the percentage of the purchase price. However, it is possible to identify those claims where the cost to the Exchequer was impacted by the Enhanced HTB Scheme, that is, the relief allowed is greater than 5% of the purchase price/approved valuation.

The table below sets out the number of claims broken down by County where the relief exceeded €20,000 or exceeded more than 5% of the purchase price/approved valuation as of 7 July 2023.