Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)
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473. To ask the Minister for Finance to provide the estimated cost of the help to buy scheme for 2025-2029; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44436/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Help to Buy (HTB) incentive, is a scheme to assist first-time purchasers with the deposit they need to buy or build a new house or apartment. An increase in the supply of new housing remains a central and priority aim of Government policy. For this reason, HTB is specifically designed to encourage an increase in demand for new build homes in order to support the construction of an additional supply of such properties.

The incentive gives a refund of Income Tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) paid in Ireland over the previous four years, subject to limits outlined in the legislation.

Based on the latest available data (31 July 2025), the scheme has supported more than 58,000 individuals or couples to buy or build their own home.

In the Budget 2025 Tax Policy Changes document, the estimated full year cost of extending the Help to Buy is €185m per annum. This costing may be found at the following link: assets.gov.ie/static/documents/budget-2025-tax-policy-changes.pdf.

However, in relation to the estimated full year future costs of the scheme, HTB is a demand-led scheme which is subject to a broad range of variables, including housing completion rates and prices, it is not possible to provide a reliable estimate of the cost for each year up to 2029.