Public ‘misled’ over ‘ill conceived and badly designed levy’ - Pearse Doherty

Donegal TD Pearse Doherty says Minister Paschal Donohue has misled people over the Defective Concrete Products Levy.

Deputy Doherty, the Sinn Féin Spokesperson on Finance, has asked the Minister to correct the Dáil record regarding the scope of the government’s levy on concrete products.

The levy is due to come into effect from 1st September and Deputy Doherty said that the Minister’s claims that the levy would exclude pre-cast products were false, causing confusion and uncertainty in the construction sector and wider industry.

“On Friday the Government will push ahead with their deeply flawed concrete products levy, even despite all the warnings that this levy will result in higher housing and building costs for workers and families,” Deputy Doherty said.

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“This is ultimately a tax on new homes which will push up building costs and house prices.

“In October Minister Paschal Donohoe made repeated claims that the levy excluded precast products – from blocks and paving to lintels and posts. These claims were false.

“It was clear as soon as the Finance Bill was published that this was not the case, and that poured concrete, a key element of precast products, would be subject to the levy.”

The DCPL is charged at a rate of five per cent of the open market value of a concrete product.

Deputy Doherty has said that the government analysis of the levy’s impact is based on late 2022 while the CSO has said the price of ready-mix concrete and concrete blocks has risen by eight per cent since. In the last two years, the cost of ready-mix concrete has rocketed by 44 per cent with concrete blocks showing a 31 per cent rise in the same period.

Deputy Doherty raised the issue with Department officials at the Finance Committee in October.  He says the comments caused confusion in the construction sector and has called the levy ‘ill conceived and badly designed’.

He added: “The Government should scrap this flawed levy, which will increase construction costs and house prices.”