265. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance his views on whether the help to buy scheme reflects the principal of a fresh start as set out by the Central Bank (details supplied); and if this is under review within his Department. [67721/26]

The Help to Buy (HTB) incentive, is a tax-based scheme to assist first-time purchasers with the deposit they need to buy or build a new house or apartment. It also aims to encourage additional supply of new houses by supporting demand.

HTB provides a refund of Income Tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) paid in Ireland over the previous four years, subject to limits outlined in the legislation.

The level of support available to first time buyers under the HTB scheme, is whichever is the lesser of:

• €30,000; or

• 10 per cent of the purchase price of the new property; or

• the amount of Income Tax and DIRT paid in the four years before application for the relief.

For a property to qualify for the HTB scheme, it must be new or converted for use as a dwelling, having not previously been used as a dwelling. Additionally, the purchase value/approved valuation of the property must not exceed €500,000.

A condition of the HTB scheme is that a qualifying first-time purchaser (“FTP”) must take out a loan in an amount equal to at least 70% of the purchase value of the property.

Based on the latest available data (31 August 2026), the scheme has supported over 69,000 individuals or couples to buy or build their own home.

Section 477C of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 requires that applicants for the Help to Buy scheme must be first-time purchasers, which is defined as "an individual who, at the time of a claim .... has not, either individually or jointly with any other person, previously purchased or previously built, directly or indirectly, on his or her own behalf a dwelling".

There are no exceptions to the Help to Buy definition of first time purchaser. This includes circumstances where there is more than one person involved in the purchase or building of a new home.

The intention behind this is to target the tax relief on those who have not had the opportunity to build up equity in another property which could be used to purchase the second or subsequent property and those who could not have availed of Help to Buy relief previously. In this regard, the post 2023 Central Bank application of the fresh start principle in its macro-prudential rules relates to the loan to value ratio which may apply to mortgages granted to fresh start applicants by regulated financial service providers; this is a substantively different matter to the potential qualification for support from public resources, as is the case with HTB.

While a number of other supports are available to "fresh start" applicants including the First Home scheme and the Local Authority Affordable Purchase scheme, these schemes are not based on the refund of Income Tax previously paid.

The Programme for Government commits to "retain and revise the scheme". Any revisions to the scheme would have to take into account tax equity, the effective operation of the scheme and the impact any proposed changes would have on the broader housing market, but these matters will be kept under review.

Furthermore, and as the Deputy will appreciate, decisions regarding taxation measures are made in the context of the annual Budget and Finance Bill processes, at the appropriate time, having regard to the sound management of the public finances and the impact any proposed changes would have on the wider housing market.