Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

An examination of media reports, in particular for the 48 hours before the budget, would suggest differently because those reports very specifically said that the stamp duty was going to increase by a very significant amount and generally suggested an increase from 2% to at least 5%. Such reports were carried by practically all of the major national newspapers and organisations such as BreakingNews.ie. That meant that if commercial property owners had their transactions ready, they could save considerable sums of money by moving and completing the transactions during the 48 hours before the budget. The sources of the leak were clearly within the Department of Finance because the leaks were very specific and their accuracy was confirmed when the Minister read out the budget. This is a bad policy because it has allowed some very large property transactions to escape the tax. If this is to be the standard set by the Minister in charge of the budget, it is extremely disappointing and costly for the taxpayer.

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