Every month a chunk of money will vanish from your bank account into the clutches of your mortgage lender.

Some of this money covers the interest on your debt. The rest pays down the debt.

It's very important to understand just how much (or how little) of your repayment actually reduces the debt. It's significantly less than you might think.

For example, with a mortgage of €300,000 @ 4.5% over 30 years,
the mortgage repayment would be in the region of €1300. Of this
aboout €1000 would be interest, with the debt being reduced by about €300.
(These are rough figures for illustration only)

Mortgage Interest Relief
In a rare bit of good fortune the government actually pays a portion of your mortgage interest for the first 7 years of the mortgage. The relief is taken care of by the bank so you don't need to pay the interest and claim anything back.

As mentioned above Mortgage Interest Relief is only paid for the first 7 years. In time this relief could well be scrapped altogether.

CitizensInformation.ie provides full details of Rules, Rates, and How to Apply for Mortgage Interest Relief.