I do not think Deputy O'Donnell has tabled an amendment relating to his proposal, but I hear what he is saying with regard to targeting support for those trying to get on the property ladder and having a detailed review of the matter. I again put it to the Minister that he has carried out a detailed review in this regard. The review has shown there is substantial dead weight in the help-to-buy scheme. Was it 52% of individuals who benefited from the help-to-buy scheme who did not need its support to get onto the pr…

The Minister can say he is conscious of the deadweight - the €100 million that has gone to people who do not need this support to purchase their own homes - but he has done nothing about it. This is the Finance Bill and he has done nothing about it. Mazars made it clear that this is poorly designed in respect of affordability, house prices and its objectives, yet the Minister comes forward with a Bill to extend it. He said the Government's objective is to reduce house prices. By God, it has fairly failed on that on…

I will speak to my party's amendment No. 11. It was not today or yesterday that I started to raise with the Minister the need to introduce a rent credit. Time and again, he has taken the position of telling us a rent credit would go into the pocket of landlords. Those words were echoed by his party leader and the Taoiseach. Year after year, the Minister said a rent credit would make the situation worse, there would be less housing and it would be a State subsidy to landlords. Obviously, he was only responding to on…

I will finish on this. What is a level of success for the Minister? When will he say he has achieved it? If rents go up another 19% next year, will that be a failure? The Minister stated he was trying to correct the Dáil record and he did not mention the issue of reducing prices. That is the problem.

He should be trying to reduce rents.

He should be trying to reduce house prices. That is the problem here.

I have finished.

Which the Minister is now stealing.

That is not true.

I did not say that.

I did not say that.

I asked how high do they have to go before the penny drops.

Before the penny drops.

I am glad the Minister has learned that one.

Whatever the Minister's motivation, whether by design on accident, I would like to know how high rents will go before the penny drops with him that his policies are contributing to the housing crisis and the rental crisis. That is the point. Whatever about whether it was an accident or motivated, and I do not suggest it was motivated, the evidence of the Minister's time in Government is that it has been an unmitigated disaster. There is no way he can hide from it. When he went into Government in 2016 rents were €1,…

I move amendment No. 9: In page 27, after line 38, to insert the following: “Report on Foreign Earnings Deduction 17. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the Foreign Earnings Deduction, the extent to which the relief has achieved its policy objectives and to review its qualifying criteria to ensure it achieves its policy objectives.” We will come to amendment No. 11, which calls on the rent freeze, after we deal with amendments Nos. 9 and…

I move amendment No. 11: In page 65, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “Report on income tax relief 24. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on an income tax relief equivalent in value to 8.3 per cent of annual rent to all private rental tenants not already in receipt of any State subsidy, examining the social and economic impact of this measure in the context of high levels of rent and other policy levers such as a ban on rent …

I move amendment No. 12: In page 65, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “Report on mortgage interest relief 24. The Minister shall, within one month of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the introduction of targeted, tailored and time-bound mortgage interest relief in respect of primary dwelling homes, considering options for its design, in the context of sudden and significant increases in interest payable on mortgage loans.”. This amendment calls for a report to …

I am going to press the amendment. It does not call for the introduction of the relief, as the Minister has said, at the standard rate. It calls on the Department to put forward a model that is targeted and tailored. The Minister and the House will be well aware that at different times during the phasing out of this relief right up to 2011, because the rates then reduced, in certain years it cost €50 million and in others it was higher and so on. On that basis, it is the right use of resources. It is the relief tha…

I move amendment No. 13: In page 65, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “Report on pension tax reliefs and subsidies 24. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the tax reliefs and subsidies applicable to pensions, including contributions and at drawdown, to assess their cost to the Exchequer and distributional impact.”. This amendment is about publishing a report on the tax reliefs and subsidies applicable to pensions, including…