The financial resolution passed by the Dáil on 19 May provides for a new higher stamp duty rate of 10% where at least ten residential units, excluding apartments, are acquired by an individual or corporate entity such as a company in any 12-month period. This new measure is triggered when a residential unit is acquired on or after 20 May 2021, with the look-back 12-month period commencing at that time on a rolling basis. The units acquired during that period are aggregated. When the tenth unit is acquired, it is ch…

I made those decisions motivated by how we can put in place policies that deal with the issue that needed to be dealt with, which was the bulk purchase of family houses, while getting the balance right also allowing more apartments to be built in the future. I have information on the kinds of purchases, including forward purchases, that took place in recent years. However, on the question the Deputy asked regarding forward purchases that are currently being completed or are under way, that information is not availa…

The 10% stamp duty rate is ten times what is applied under the standard rate. It is one third higher than the stamp duty rate that applies for commercial property. It is many times higher than the standard rate of stamp duty because of the intention I have to deter these kinds of purchases in the future. Of course, it must be seen in conjunction with the other aspect of that policy, namely, that it applies to ten or more houses that are purchased. That is the other part of the policy that is put forward. The only r…

I thank the Deputy. My officials, and officials in the Central Bank of Ireland, as our independent regulator, have been carefully monitoring developments to identify potential challenges in banking and financial services that could arise from Brexit and to take steps to prevent them occurring or, if that is not possible, to mitigate them. Thus far Brexit has had limited impact on the industry in the short term, given the preparation and relocations already undertaken as part of contingency planning for a no-deal Br…

I believe there are going to be further opportunities to grow the financial services sector here and to gain additional jobs. This is something the IDA is working very hard to deliver at the moment. To date we have been successful in attracting additional investment into our country as a result of the efforts of the IDA and the Department of Finance. The priorities I have at the moment are continued stability and safety, the protection of consumer rights with regard to financial services and ensuring the basic infr…

I thank the Deputy. The opportunities really are there. Our opportunities are more likely to relate to how we can increase the scale of the employers which are currently here, and how we can encourage them to have more operations and functions located here. If one looks at where we stand from an employer point of view, the breadth of employer and the breadth of investor we have at the moment is almost as high as it could be. As such, our focus should be on how we encourage and incentivise existing employers to loca…

I thank the Deputy for her question. As she will be aware, I am not in a position, nor indeed is the Central Bank, to intervene in the provision or pricing of insurance. This position is reinforced by the EU framework for insurance, called the Solvency II Directive. Consequently, companies cannot be directed as to how they price their policies or what terms and conditions they apply in relation to cover. It is my understanding that past claims history is one of the rating factors that insurers generally will use in…

I thank the Deputy. The Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, and I are very much aware of that reality and the challenge many small businesses face with the rising cost of insurance. It is the reason this and the previous Government have had such a focus on this matter. It is the reason the Minister of State has worked previously with the former Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, and the current Minister for Justice, Deputy Humphreys, on the implementation of guidance for claims settled in court precisely to creat…

This is about the regulation of a sector through an independent regulator with the power to hold firms to account where there are practices not in keeping with regulation or where there is a breach of law. I accept the point that the general matters I refer to may not be of solace to the specific company referred to by the Deputy, but it is the implementation of these policies by the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, along with the Tánaiste, me and other Ministers that will make a difference in the coming months a…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 65, 71, 79 to 81,inclusive, 88, 92, 95, 100, 102, 105, 120, 130 and 384 together. This has been an absolutely vital scheme. I will deal with County Carlow where, to date, under the employment wage subsidy scheme 6,800 employees have participated in the employment wage subsidy scheme. Prior to this, it was the temporary wage subsidy scheme and the number was 8,600. With regard to how much money has been paid out to date under the two programmes, the answer is €82 million, with €38 mi…

I very much agree with the analysis put forward by the Deputy. This scheme has made a massive difference to workers and employers throughout the country. As the Deputy knows, the Government has made the decision to extend the scheme to the end of this year, in a completely unchanged way for the next quarter and with a view to seeing whether we can make some slight changes to the scheme in the final quarter to begin the process of making it more sustainable. I hope we will be able to change it over time. The scheme …

I congratulate the Deputy in advance of tomorrow. It is great to know that this week 100,000 citizens from throughout the country will be getting either their first or second jab. This will continue in the weeks and months of this year. In any decision the Government will make regarding supports in future there must be a balance. We cannot keep the supports we have in place in an unchanged format forever but I have never met an employer who wants to be on the scheme. Employers who set up their own companies want to…

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. The programme for Government includes a commitment to bring forward legislation in relation to the local property tax on the basis of fairness and that most homeowners will not face an increase in their local property tax liability. In addition, there is a commitment to bring new homes, which are currently exempt from local property tax, into the taxation system. Accordingly, yesterday the Government gave its approval for the general scheme of the Finance (Local Propert…

Deputy Boyd Barrett responds to what I said. Deputy Paul Murphy comes in here and reads out a script that was written a decade ago. Look at what the Government announced yesterday - €4 billion worth of investment in the future - on top of last year's budget which led to record levels of investment in our future. Look at the employment wage subsidy scheme where the State is standing absolutely behind Irish workers and full-square behind Irish employers to maintain jobs and maintain income at exactly the time at whic…

I move: That, notwithstanding anything in the Order of the Dáil of 30th July, 2020, setting out the rota in which Questions to members of the Government are to be asked, Questions for oral answer, following those next set down to the Minister for Justice, shall be set down to Ministers in the following temporary sequence: Minister for Finance Minister for Transport whereupon the sequence established by the Order of 30th July, 2020, shall continue with Questions to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

I move: (1) THAT, for the purposes of stamp duty charged by virtue of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 (No. 31 of 1999), that Act be amended— (a) by the insertion of the following section after section 31D: “Stamp duty on certain acquisitions of residential property 31E. (1) In this section— ‘Act of 1997’ means the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997; ‘apartment block’ means a multi-storey residential property that comprises, or will comprise, not less than 3 apartments with grouped or common access; ‘arrangement’ …

I present this evening a financial resolution on stamp duties. Its purpose is to amend the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 through the insertion of a new section, 31E, titled "Stamp duty and certain acquisitions of residential property". It does this by imposing higher stamp duty charges on multiple purchases of residential units to take effect from midnight tonight. It is one part of the Government's response to the recent development of commercial institutional investors bulk-purchasing homes at or near compl…

I thank all Deputies for their contributions on this very important motion. Many different allegations have been made this evening regarding my intention, the intention of my party and indeed the intention of the Government in how we want to meet the housing needs of our country and the lack of progress we have made. Allegations have been made about my intentions regarding this resolution. Let us consider what happened with housing under the last Government while acknowledging that for many it was not enough and wh…

I thank the Acting Chair for the opportunity to respond to the different points made, and, indeed, to respond to some of the charges made against the Government, my party and the Ministers working on responding to the great challenge we face. Let me begin by making it completely clear where this Government and I stand and where previous Governments have stood, and whose side we are on. We are on the side of those seeking to be able to rent a home at an affordable price and those seeking to buy their first home at a…

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for the opportunity to discuss the future of banking. I will open this discussion by updating the House on what I see as some of the key issues: the impact of Covid-19 and our response; the changing retail financial sector environment and the challenge for banks to secure an appropriate return; and the continuing effort to improve regulation and rebuild trust in the banking system through measures such as the senior executive accountability regime, SEAR. The pandemic has posed signif…