Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I confess to being surprised that less than one page of Mr. Wright's 48-page report, which really arises from the crisis that arose from the bubble that was blown up in the construction property sector, deals with construction policy vis-à-visthe Department of Finance. In that chapter, I quote, "Based on departmental advice, the Government took some limited action to moderate tax incentives for construction early in the decade and again eventually in 2006/2007." Did Mr. Wright get any evidence that any further proposals were discussed inside the Department, much stronger than moderating some tax incentives, to curb what Mr. Nyberg yesterday called speculation? For example, was there discussion of any measures to disincentivise speculators in the market who were driving up the prices, or to control the price of building land?