Infrastructure fund to ensure ‘continuity’ for Cork projects

BUSINESS representative group Ibec has welcomed the government’s national infrastructure, climate and nature fund – which was one of local Ibec representatives’ key calls when they met Finance Minister Michael McGrath in Cork ahead of the Budget.

Ibec head of regional policy Helen Leahy said the business lobby group had been advocating for a portion of the Budget to go towards an infrastructure fund. ‘For Cork, this represents the continuity of momentum for essential projects,’ she said.

Meanwhile, the chair of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland in the southern region, Majella Galvin, has welcomed the extension of the Help to Buy scheme but warned measures aimed at supporting small landlords will do little to stop their exodus from the rental sector.

Reacting to the measures announced in Budget, Ms Galvin, a director of DNG Galvin, welcomed the decision to extend the Help to Buy scheme by a further year until December 2025 and the scheme’s amendment to include properties purchased under the local authority affordable purchase scheme – a significant addition given the increased volume of new units under construction.

She also welcomed the move to increase the rent tax credit to €750 per annum and extend the eligibility to include the parents of students living in rented accommodation as well as the limited reintroduction of mortgage interest relief for a temporary period next year. 

However, she said the agency has warned that the newly announced rented residential relief ‘will do little or nothing to convince small landlords to remain in the rental sector. The relief available, as set out in the Budget, is equivalent to a tax credit for landlords of a maximum of €600 in year one rising to €1,000 in year’s three and four of the scheme’s operation, which will end in 2027.’

Cork South West TD Michael Collins has called Budget 2024 ‘a missed opportunity’ to tackle Ireland’s housing crisis. 

The Finance Minister’s plans to offer mortgage interest relief of up to €1,250 for eligible households was another of the key measures. But Deputy Collins said this amounts to little more than a superficial gesture. 

‘It only applies to the additional interest paid in 2023 compared to 2022. This relief does little to alleviate the challenges faced by homeowners with tracker mortgages, many of whom are reluctantly putting their properties up for sale to mitigate their financial losses.

‘Small landlords have been largely disregarded, offered nothing more than a short-term, superficial solution. While the 20% tax relief on rental income is a welcome step, it is conditional on landlords enduring the volatile property market for the next four years.’

From a housing perspective, the Budget represented a missed opportunity, he said.

Local representatives of government parties, including Fianna Fáil TD Christopher O’Sullivan and Fine Gael Senator Tim Lombard, have highlighted tax cuts and a USC reduction as evidence of how the Budget will put money back into people’s pockets locally.

However, Labour representative in West Cork and disability activist, Evie Nevin, expressed disappointment at the tokenistic approach taken by the government. Disability groups had sought a weekly payment increase of €27.50 but the Budget allocates a €12 weekly increase. Ms Nevin emphasised that disabled individuals face additional expenses related to their disabilities. 

‘As usual, the most vulnerable in society are given crumbs. It feels very like, here you go pet, now off you pop till next year. The government infantalises disabled people but we vote, our carers vote, and our loved ones vote.’