John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There were a number of references to land hoarding and the question of whether land is being held or not. Mr. Sweetman's reply was very much on incentivisation and the freeing up of land for the market. Others might believe there should be a carrot-and-stick approach, whereby the stick side might be the taxation of land hoarding. Quite clearly, within the resources available there are only certain incentives that can be given. To address what is needed in the public good, is there another side that should be examined? Should it be dealt with in parallel, such that there would be a carrot and stick where the hoarding of land, particularly in areas where services are available and when we are facing a national emergency, would be addressed? Do we have to have the other side of the equation? Mr. Sweetman might address all those questions together.