Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In March 2001, Professor FitzGerald was critical of the then-Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, and the changes made to the 60% capital gains rate on zoned lands. The Irish Timesreported Professor FitzGerald saying there was no incentive for the developers not to hoard land that should be used for residential development. He was also critical of the Minister's plan not to proceed with the 9% stamp duty on second homes and the 2% anti-speculation tax for the first three years on those homes. Can the Professor explain to the committee what the issues were and why he felt he needed to criticise the Minister so publicly in relation to this? What was the effect of those measures on zoned land and of the dropping of what was labelled at the time the "anti-speculator" tax on second homes? What type of engagement was there between the Professor and officials and the Minister in response to those criticisms?