Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
293. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Finance the number of persons who have applied under the first time buyers scheme as announced in budget 2017; the counties they applied from in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34022/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Help To Buy (HTB) incentive, announced in Budget 2017 (October 2016), is designed to assist first-time buyers with the deposit required to purchase or self-build a new house or apartment to live in as their home.
The incentive provides for a refund of income tax and DIRT paid over the previous four tax years, limited to a maximum of 5% of the purchase value up to a value of €400,000. The HTB refund is capped at €20,000.
The incentive is available for the period from 19 July 2016 to 31 December 2019.
To the end of June 2018, 7,753 HTB claims had been made (of which 7,220 were approved). The value of approved HTB claims to the end of June 2018 is some of €104.3 million, of which €17.7 million represents retrospective claims (for the period 19 July to 31 December 2016).
The breakdown of HTB claims made by county is as follows:
|
County |
Claims Made |
|
Carlow |
53 |
|
Cavan |
51 |
|
Clare |
101 |
|
Cork |
712 |
|
Donegal |
70 |
|
Dublin |
2,848 |
|
Galway |
309 |
|
Kerry |
65 |
|
Kildare |
756 |
|
Kilkenny |
60 |
|
Laois |
108 |
|
Leitrim |
21 |
|
Limerick |
242 |
|
Longford |
27 |
|
Louth |
210 |
|
Mayo |
102 |
|
Meath |
917 |
|
Monaghan |
57 |
|
Offaly |
70 |
|
Roscommon |
49 |
|
Sligo |
45 |
|
Tipperary |
129 |
|
Waterford |
181 |
|
Westmeath |
99 |
|
Wexford |
115 |
|
Wicklow |
356 |
As the Deputy may be aware, my Department has recently commissioned an independent Cost-Benefit Analysis of the incentive. That analysis is currently underway and is due to be completed in advance of Budget 2019.
