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

May I ask whose side estate agents are on? Whose side are the boys on? I ask that in reference to a predecessor of Mr. Moran who, in 2006, made this statement: "Amazingly, the fundamental that is missed by those looking at the property market is that the price of land is high because the price that people are prepared to pay for houses is high, not vice versa." The suggestion there is that young people trying to purchase a home wanted to pay the by any standard inordinate prices that were demanded to put a roof over their head.

Mr. Moran's predecessor finishes by saying, "there is the Chinese proverb which counsels 'be careful what you wish lest your dream come true'". It seems to me that a Government which engineers a fall in house prices in order to pick up first time buyers' votes may not alone be confusing action with progress but may also live to repent at leisure. Is the suggestion by this particular estate agent, that house prices should be kept at the inflated levels they rose to up to 2006, in the interest of young people buying their homes? Does Mr. Moran agree or disagree with this view?