There is clearly a need for a strong housing policy response to the current housing problem. In a binge of outrageous pre-election spending in 2001, the Government blatantly squandered the riches of the Celtic tiger years in an orgy of excess and is now squandering the trust of the taxpayer and bolstering the haves at the expense of the have nots. Robin Hood may have robbed the rich to feed the poor but what will future generations say about this Government, which will go down in history as having repeatedly leaned on the less well-off to make up for its financial ineptitude? House buyers who have already lost the first-time buyer's grant are now facing punitive development levies which will see many priced out of the housing market, driving housing lists to even higher levels and forcing more people to become homeless.