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TAOISEACH SIMON HARRIS has denied the Government is performing a U-turn when it comes to increasing stamp duty on homes bulk-purchased by vulture funds.
It comes after a Fine Gael junior minister called for the tax to be doubled from 10% to 20% in Budget 2025, which will be announced on 1 October.
In January, the government opposed a Sinn Fein motion to increase such stamp duty on so-called vulture funds by 17%, after then-Minister for Finance Michael McGrath received agreement from Cabinet to counter the motion.
However, speaking on RTÉ’s This Week programme on Sunday, Junior Minister Neale Richmond said the current 10% stamp duty isn’t going far enough to discourage the bulk-buying of homes by investment funds.
The Minister of State at the Department of Finance said the Government “have to keep policies always under constant review”.
“This stamp duty rate that was introduced has worked to an extent. It’s slowed down the amount of bulk purchases, but it hasn’t worked completely,” Richmond said.
When asked if Fine Gael were dressing a Sinn Féin motion as its own, he insisted that “things have changed”.
“What the Minister at the time said is that he had no intention at that stage of introducing it, but we’re eight months on,” he said.
“We have to be able to be flexible with our policies, we have to see where more can be done and ultimately, budgetary proposals shouldn’t be made in January.”
Richmond also said he had raised the matter with Taoiseach Simon Harris, and intended to raise it with Finance Minister Jack Chambers this week.
When asked about the matter today, the Taoiseach said it was “quite the opposite” of a u-turn and that it was important to keep the issue of stamp duty under review.
“It’s an appropriate way to do things, as I’ve consistently said in the Dáil since becoming Taoiseach,” Harris said.
“If you make changes to taxation, you generally do it through the budgetary process. Obviously, the three parties in Government will decide how best to address this, and the budget will be delivered on 1 October.
“It’s a statement of fact, and I would have said it many times since becoming leader of my party and Taoiseach, that we do need to keep the issue of stamp duty constantly under review.”
Harris called for taxation and planning around the bulk-purchasing of homes to be reviewed in May.
He said he was pleased at the measures that the Government has taken to try and tackle the issue of bulk buying and vulture funds.
“But we’ve also said, consistently across all three parties, that those measures must always be kept under review.”
Harris said he wrote to the Department of Finance about the matter “quite a period of time ago”, who confirmed that they are carrying out a review.
“We need to make sure every single tool at our disposal is being effectively used, and we always need to keep these matters under review,” he said, adding that he hoped to see progress on the matter in Budget 2025.
Currently, the standard rates of stamp duty on residential property are 1% on values up to €1 million and 2% on values exceeding €1 million.
A higher 10% rate of duty comes in when someone acquires at least 10 properties during any 12-month period.
In May 2021 the government introduced a 10% stamp duty on the bulk purchase of family homes by investment funds.
However, in July 2021, the Government passed a controversial amendment to allow funds to side-step the 10% stamp duty if they lease homes back to the State for social housing.
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Shouldn’t be letting non-residents be buying up our homes. And definitely not more than 2 or 3 homes. Other countries have outright banned bulk buying but FFG is all for the ‘free market’; let the world buy our resources
@9QRixo8H: would your plan include the invitees of the far left?
@9QRixo8H: Agree, this should have been done a decade ago, government watching and allowing Vultures/Cuckoo Funds buy up swathes of properties. When challenged about these funds in the past the government defended the practice so I won’t be holding my breath.
ps. Does anyone know when the new National Children’s Hospital will have its official opening?
@Mr Inbetween: That hospital debacle has just begun, where are they getting the staff to run it?
@Freda Peeple: or get accommodation for that staff
@Freda Peeple: All staff from the existing CHI Hospitals: Crumlin, Temple St., TUH who will transfer, and some from Connolly. Connolly and TUH will just be satellite units for emergencies.
@h5kFhdYI: Good luck with that. Those facilities are massively under staffed as is, we are going to seriously struggle to fill the positions in the new hospital.
@9QRixo8H: too much common sense that would take too long for them to try to understand or digest there no hope of it.
@Mr Inbetween: If you’re 40 or younger, you stand a good chance of seeing it’s opening!
I fear for young people these days as an affordable home is just a political football. Just tell the sheeple what sounds good, deny we ever opposed that in the past and give them a few euros with the left hand and take twice as much with the right.
I
@Alexa Reborn: You can Michael Noonan for this – he went off to Davos, during the crash and negotiated this side stepping with vulture/cuckoo funds. Why? Because FG have never represented the needs of the people but rather the interests of the wealthy and free market policy. They dumped unsecured bondholder debt on to our shoulders and we’re still all carrying over €42,000 worth of it. And it has also been announced today that the EU want all countries to carry the debt of other countries. They seem to be forgetting that the people in Ireland are already carrying the burden of other countries debts. But people keep voting for more of the same and they’ll probably do the same again in the next GE. When has FFGLab ever represented us – that would be never.
@Ann Reddin: ** You can thank …
@Alexa Reborn: Using the term ‘sheeple’ nullifies any point you were trying to make.
Try avoiding such ignorant name calling.
@Alexa Reborn: especially with SF objecting to the building of thousands of new homes every year.
@Pat Hazzard: Lies .. lies.. and more lies from the FF shill.. you keep spouting it .. ill keep posting it. https://www.thejournal.ie/factcheck-sinn-fein-objection-6000-houses-5679519-Feb2022/
If people don’t want to read all the lies they tell, I’ll spoil the ending.. ‘As a result, we rate the Taoiseach’s claim: MISLEADING’
Thats all you ever do ‘ Pat Hazzard ‘ .. repeat the lies of your dear leader. Nothing but a troll lad. A bad one at that.
@Ann Reddin: I think you’ll find it’s around 60,000 pp, but sure who’s counting these days, it pales in comparison to the US which needs wars & the petro dollar to stay afloat… https://www.usdebtclock.org/world-debt-clock.html
@Mike B: According to this article from 2023, each of us still owes €42,000. But regardless of which figure is correct, we’re still carrying it, still paying it back, and people seem to have forgotten that face.
https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/irish-public-debt-of-42000-euro-per-person-very-significant-for-small-country-1591722.html#:~:text=Ireland’s%20national%20debt%20has%20fallen,debt%20levels%20in%20the%20world.
@Sun Rise: no, it doesn’t.
@Sun Rise: You don’t get to police language and decide what words nullify someone else’s point. If the word “sheeple” bothers you, that’s a you problem. The rest of us can deduce for ourselves.
@Mike B: Also – this is Irish dept I’m talking about, not US debt. You’ve been looking at the wrong one. Maybe double check before hitting post comment
. https://www.financedublin.com/debtclock/
Jeez, comments open on a Simon u-turn article …how novel
I was waiting to see how Mr Harris would respond to this, it’s obvious now that he listing to the builder and developers. He’s not interested in even trying to stop the sharks from devouring the house that should be build for the young working class citizens of our country. A 20% tax on the buying of 2 or more houses would mean the young citizens of our country had a fighting chance of buying their first home. But no he’s afraid of the sharks, other country have stoped the bulk buying of house, why no us Mr Harris.
@Jimmy Kiely: because he is an unelected jelly baby and as long as we, as the citizens they are supposed to represent do not make them understand that actions have consequences this is never ever going to stop. We live in a state of constant paralysis because we think we do not wield any power in the current system, that, the little we have left could still be taken away when it’s already happening. Sometimes I feel like I can’t open a window in this country anymore without being charged a tenner. A very drastic change in our politicians attitudes simply has to happen, but I suppose most of them are grand to rule over the rubble, as long as they can be in charge.
@Jimmy Kiely: builders and developers get paid irrespective of who’s buying the properties.
I wonder how many of our top trough feeder have a vested interested in these funds. And before you tell me they have to declare everything, they don’t have to declare any wife’s/ partners interest.
Simon has proposed a Government Ministry for Infrastructure.
He could also consider a new Ministry for U-turns.
Like taxing Elon Musk ,is that junior minister 12 ,Vulture funds will not be worried about a 10% rise,maybe a bit of thought on how to stop selling our country to them would be more appropriate.
You do all realize this is a ploy to increase the faux market right? Economics 101 baby. Essentially they’re inflating the bubble beyond it’s threshold, matter of fact it is past it by about 210k as houses are pretty worthless material wise.
Media moved from saying “so called Vulture Funds” to Vulture Funds even there is no such thing legally as a vulture fund. Any EXTRA new money put into housing is good for building up housing stock. It’s no a either or, builders can build EXTRA homes wit all extra committed money.
@thomas molloy: The media never used the words “so called” in relation to vulture/cuckoo funds. There is no new money coming from this policy because vulture funds pay no tax on the properties they buy up.
@Ann Reddin: Landlords selling up and people saving for their retirement can now buy shares in property investment funds(mocked by some as vulture investors) instead of becoming landlords directly. You are getting your way but society suffers.
@thomas molloy: Then people should ensure that when they are paying into their retirement fund, they’re not buying into the vulture funds that are locking them out of the housing market.
Waffle, Spin, Delection & Misinformation. Fine Gael gone into full election mode with selection processes under way, but Harris pretending there is no upcoming election. Laughable watching footage of Neale Richmond complain about tax on Vulture funds & now he wants to impose a higher rate.
I would like how many shares do the politicians have from the Vulture funds the Vulture funds should not be allowed to buy any of the houses in fact we should take back the houses they have bought and kick the Vulture funds out of Ireland for good and kick the government out for bringing them hear
Its*
No one can solve the “affordable” homes crisis until the Referendum on Housing is passed.
First proposed in 1974 but blocked by politicians.
It would have prevented the 2008 bubble and crash .. no housing crash in France, Germany, etc with proper Constitutions.
Your kids are being used and abused. Their only weapon of defence is their VOTE.
Just ban vulture funds Irish citizens are more important not votes
have your say