Budget 2017: Simon Coveney defends Help to Buy scheme for housing

Housing Minister Simon Coveney has pushed ahead with the Help to Buy scheme for first-time buyers despite continuing claims by critics that the only thing it will achieve is higher house prices.

Mr Coveney defended the scheme, which has been under largely negative scrutiny since the summer, saying it was the subject of “lazy commentary” and was not being considered in conjunction with other measures targeting housing supply.

“We’re trying to close the viability gap between what it costs to build a house and the capacity to actually buy a house,” he said.