Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am also opposed to the section. Very pertinent photographs were put up by Senator Moynihan showing the price of houses having gone up overnight by €10,000. We know that sometimes happens when there is something that is simply driving cost upwards. An impact assessment was needed as to market distortion.One of the best ways to help people is by ensuring that there is more building and more social housing so that everybody is not competing for the same space. We should also examine certain incentives that may still be in the system and that make it much easier for commercial investors. Those incentives were called out when they appeared. We have started to wind them down, but they still exist. Commercial investors still have a real advantage over those actually seeking to purchase homes. One of the most rigorous and useful things we could do would be to stop giving advantages to commercial purchasers, real estate investment trusts and others that are driving up prices. That would do more for first-time buyers.