Welcome news from the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, that the home renovation scheme will begin this Friday, instead of next year as originally announced.

“The announcement in the Budget of a home renovation tax relief for households who use registered tradesmen was an innovative and welcome initiative. This earlier start date will bring more certainty to builders as many people were delaying home renovations until the New Year.

“This is a proposal which I had suggested to Minister Noonan in the run up to last year’s Budget and I am glad to see it implemented this week.

“This tax relief will be available for the next two years and will cover home renovations costing between €5,000 and €30,000 and most importantly, incentivises homeowners to only use tax-compliant tradespeople.

“The new tax relief will stimulate jobs in the construction industry in Ireland, giving those in long-term unemployment the opportunity to get back to work.  The economic recession in this country – the result of a severely inflated property market – meant that thousands of jobs were lost in the construction sector. This initiative seeks to address this problem, making the hiring of registered carpenters, tilers, builders, electricians and plumbers, among others, a more attractive option for householders, said Labour Party TD for Galway West, Derek Nolan.

“The measure will help tackle the loss of €5 billion to the black economy each year. Illegal activity in the black economy can cripple legitimate businesses by giving cost advantages to those who avoid tax, don’t pay proper wages or contribute to society. This proposal will reduce Ireland’s growing black economy and divert money back into the Exchequer.”

Speaking about the change to the commencement date, CIF Director General Tom Parlon said, “This is very positive news and it will be welcomed throughout the industry.  There were a lot of our members raising concerns that they were losing orders and that customers were holding off on proceeding with home renovation works until the new year to take advantage of the incentive.  This would have lead to severe cash flow problems between now and the end of the year for some construction companies which would have been very difficult in the run up to Christmas. 

“By amending the commencement date the Government has removed that problem and it should act as an immediate spur to generating construction work for legitimate contractors.  The entire point of this measure is to encourage work for legitimate construction operatives and the entire industry is delighted that the Government has offered homeowners such an incentive.  This measure has been warmly welcomed by the industry as a whole and it shows how the Government can help boost construction activity by working with the industry to bring forward these type of measures,” Mr. Parlon concluded.