A call has been issued for continued and further support for the successful Help to Buy scheme in the upcoming Budget 2022.

The latest figures available by Revenue show 28,319 claims have been made under the Help to Buy scheme, of which 27,419 have been approved.

Fine Gael Seanad Housing spokesperson John Cummins said since the last budget the relief available to applicants under the scheme increased from 5% of the value of the house up to a maximum of €20,000, to 10% of the value of the house up to a maximum of €30,000.

"I believe it is essential that this level of support is retained and extended in Budget 2022 to give certainty to individuals and families who see this scheme as essential to support them in purchasing their first home," said Senator Cummins.

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"While opposition parties like Sinn Féin criticise the scheme and want to abolish it immediately, people my age who contact me in relation to housing see it as a very fair measure which enables them to get their taxes back, which have been collected by Revenue in the previous four years and allow them to utilise this towards their deposit. I support the state giving back and supporting individuals and families in owning their own home.

"I recently met with Macra Na Feirme who are fully supportive of the Help to Buy Scheme. Just under 25pc of approved claims have been for self-build properties and while we don't have a breakdown of the exact locations of these, it is fair to say the majority would be in rural Ireland. Fine Gael will always be supportive of people looking to build homes where they want to work and raise families.

"As a government we make no apology for supporting this cohort of individuals and families to build within their own communities, which supports the sustainability of areas that have experienced population decline.

"It seems opposition parties like Sinn Féin are ideologically opposed to people owning their own homes. They do not want to support young individuals and families to purchase a private home. Even their affordable housing policy proposes that you will never own your home outright despite paying a mortgage on it over a 20-30 year period because you will not own the land it sits on. In addition, you will be restricted to who you can sell it on to," Senator Cummins concluded.