Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

The Minister spoke about his desire for a soft landing but, with a 50% increase in the average mortgage repayment over the past 18 months, how soft will that landing be? The softest arrangements for people in the property market are geared towards investors rather than owner occupiers. The Minister did not address the issue of empty houses, which in a number of economies are taken as a signal of stress in the market when their numbers rise above a certain threshold. What is being done to ensure a soft landing?

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