-----on 1 January. I refer to extra tax-----

-----in the form of BIK.

That is why I made an intervention, in the interests of fairness.

I looked at the range of examples of how this was impacting individuals. Some of the changes were significant and hurt people at a time when many people are struggling anyway. I acknowledge and accept that and that is why I have made the change. In the amendments, the Deputies are asking for us to sign up to the changes I have made permanently. I am not prepared to do that because it is important that we have an environmental rationale behind the system of BIK charging. That said, I have given a commitment to exami…

I listened for more than 20 minutes to the Opposition Deputies speaking earlier and I did not hear any new ideas. I heard no positivity. All I heard was 20 minutes of negativity, bitterness and, particularly from Sinn Féin, a personalised diatribe towards the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage which will do absolutely nothing to provide a home for a single family in this country in the weeks and months ahead.

The truth is this Government is now the biggest developer of housing in the State.

We might look at the range of schemes the Minister has brought forward in the past couple of years in particular. We had the first home scheme. We have a new Croí Cónaithe scheme. He has introduced affordable purchase again in this country. We now have cost rental up and running for the first time ever. We have the Land Development Agency, LDA, on a statutory footing, on site, delivering homes in our country. We have record social housing. This Government is now building public housing at scale for the first time i…

That is evidenced by the fact our population has grown by approximately 360,000 people from the census in 2016 to 2022. Much of that has been by net inward migration. It is not the basket case Deputy Ó Broin consistently portrays it to be.

Ireland is an attractive place where people want to come to live, work and rear a family and we never hear any acknowledgment of any of that from any Deputies on the other side of the House.

We have an economy in this country-----

-----that is attracting people to Ireland. A record number of people are working in Ireland today. The figure is almost 2.6 million people, which is the highest number at any point in the history of our country. We have public finances that have been well-run. For the first time in our history, financial constraint is no longer the inhibitor of developing housing.

The reality is that it is about capacity-----

-----and that is about the hard grind of Government, land availability-----

-----planning reform and ensuring we have sufficient labour in our system so that we provide the funding for housing to take place, and that we give our local authorities and approved housing bodies the capacity to deliver the homes our people need. We are absolutely committed to developing at scale, in record numbers, affordable housing-----

-----cost-rental housing-----

-----public housing-----

-----and working with the private sector to alleviate the blockages that exist in the system to ensure we can build up the number of houses we need to meet the demands of a growing economy and growing population. This Government has a positive agenda. We will deliver and we will not bow to the incessant negativity and bitterness we hear from the Opposition.

I move: That section 81AA of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 (No. 31 of 1999), which provides for relief from stamp duty in respect of transfers of agricultural land to young trained farmers, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I appreciate the opportunity to speak on the Bill, which is relatively short and provides for some of the cost-of-living measures announced by the Government last month. The full package of measures will cost more than €1.2 billion and will put money back into people’s pockets, help with bills and ensure there is no cliff edge for the temporary measures already in place. In the past year, Ireland has experienced a broad-based surge in inflationary pressures, leadin…

I thank all the Deputies who contributed to the debate. There is an overall context to the Bill, namely, the announcement by the Government to bring forward a package of measures totalling more than €1.2 billion. Had we not brought forward the Bill, a range of tax reductions would have expired overnight at the end of February. The principal reason for bringing forward the Bill is to extend a number of those measures and provide for a phased restoration of some of the rates. Of course, these measures sit alongside a…