I saw the interview with the auctioneer on budget day, which showed that there are many sides to this argument. He stated that the job of the auctioneer is to try to beef up the price to the maximum on behalf of the seller. Whatever about his belief, since then I have talked with some potential buyers in their late 20s and early 30s, and the perception of young potential first-time buyers is that the budget measure is very helpful and positive. I am sure the Deputy has also met some who appreciate it. They strongly believe it will be of benefit to them, which it will.
The measure should take the pressure off the new house market because what happened in recent years, perhaps because of the burden of stamp duty, as people saw it, is that first-time buyers concentrated on the new house market and shied away from the second-hand market. This will help to rebalance the market to some extent.
With regard to the range of measures, there were previous reductions in stamp duty before last week's significant reduction, and changes were made to mortgage tax relief two budgets ago. Moreover, the Department now spends over €20 million per year on site subsidies, specifically geared at buyers in a particular income bracket. There is a range of measures to help people in specific income brackets.
On the Deputy's other point in regard to the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution, previous commitments were given that we would debate its report in the House when the National Economic and Social Council report was published. I hope the NESC report will be published soon after Christmas. The Goodbody report and the NESC report consider different aspects of the matter and we will have a debate on the overall issue in the new year.