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

The research that the inquiry team has done found that between 1996 and 2006, the price of an ordinary home increased each year, over ten years, by the equivalent of the average industrial wage. These were astonishing increases, resulting in a young generation being skewered economically by what was going on in the property market.

Mortgage payments were shooting up putting huge pressure on people, the period of the mortgage increased from 20 years for their parents to 40 years and by common consent there was rampant speculation in land involved and profiteering. Did Ms Kennedy ever launch an initiative of investigative journalism in The Irish Timesto uncover the rampant profiteering and speculation that was going on in the housing industry during that period?