Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I think there is a balance that we have to get right. What the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council noted about this is interesting. It stated that there is a degree to which, if house-building goes beyond a certain level in a certain period, it can pose a risk to the economy. Against that, there are two things. First, the lack of housing at a certain level also poses challenges for businesses and their role in our economy. Second, as I need hardly tell the Deputy, the social and personal difficulty that is being caused by the lack of homes weighs very heavily upon me. I need to get that balance right. If we make a decision that we are going to put additional resources into the economy to provide more social homes, I may decide that it is paid for out of additional measures which of themselves can have an effect on the economy that can offset the inflationary risk to which the Deputy referred. What is uppermost in my mind is the grave difficulty that tenants, people who are homeless and those who are concerned about their futures face. I am trying to navigate my way towards doing that.

An example of the way in which I try to use a tax measure to affect the composition of our overall economy is what we did in the context of stamp duty on commercial property last year. While we put more money into certain areas, increasing stamp duty on commercial property played a role in dealing with inflationary pressures that were beginning to develop in that sector a year ago.