Sinn Féin spokesperson on Public Expenditure, Rose Conway-Walsh TD, has called on Minister Alan Dillon to clarify whether or not the land hoarding tax (Residential Zoned Land Tax) will be deferred after contradictory statements by government ministers.

Teachta Conway Walsh said:

“It is disgraceful, disingenuous and insulting that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are using farmers as a smokescreen to protect land hoarders and speculators whilst we are during a deep housing crisis.

“We have a situation where one government Minister is saying the tax would go ahead as planned, directly contradicting Finance Minister Jack Chambers’ assertion that it would be deferred. Which is it?

“The truth is that this government has had three years to exempt actively farmed land from this tax. Sinn Féin tabled an amendment to the Finance Bill last year to ensure farmers were protected but the government took no action and continued to defer the tax.

“For three years Sinn Féin’s Finance spokesperson, Pearse Doherty, has warned the government of the problem and showed them how it could be fixed by a simple amendment to legislation. Yet, they have chosen to do nothing.

“The contradictory positions of Ministers clearly demonstrate the dysfunction of a government whose policies constructed the housing crisis and who are now failing to tackle it. It is time for a change of government.

“Using farmers as an excuse to defer this tax again will be nothing more than a smokescreen to allow land hoarders to have yet another year to sit on land that should be developed to build homes. Meanwhile in Mayo we have thousands of people trying to secure a home.”