Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is not long since I was canvassing in an estate in my town and visited two houses side by side. The cost of one which had been purchased at the height of the boom was €720,000, while the other had been purchased after the depression began for €350,000. I believe this identifies the crisis at the heart of the housing programme, planning and all of the issues related to the cost of housing and particularly the windfall profit tax which is being done away with in the Finance Bill. I have concerns about this and note the points made by Deputy Thomas P. Broughan.

I accept that it is included in the legislation and, obviously, is going to happen, but the key aspect is regulating the price of building land. This issue was raised a long time ago. I think Deputies Peter Mathews and Thomas P. Broughan might remember the Kenny report when we were just four or five years of age. Do the Deputies remember it?

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