Ahern admits abolishing property tax was ‘mistake’ but blames media

FORMER taoiseach Bertie Ahern admitted the abolition of property taxes under his government contributed to the housing bubble.

On the second anniversary of his dramatic resignation from office, Mr Ahern said if he “had one regret” it was getting rid of the Residential Property Tax in 1997 following a promise to do so in his first general election as leader of Fianna Fáil.

“That was a mistake,” he said, but rather than accepting responsibility he laid the blame on “media and political pressure” to get rid of the tax.

Mr Ahern had previously introduced the tax as finance minister and said this weekend: “The media hammered me on that. RTÉ hammered me on it saying it was terrible. But if we had to have kept it there, it would have kept down the bubble.

“I suppose coming into the 1997 general election, every party decided not to have it, but that was a mistake. We should have stuck to it. I tried to bring it in and those who stopped it should now get down and say, mea culpa – they were wrong. I haven’t seen any of them doing that yet.”

But he said the property collapse would not have been so great if it had not been for the global financial crisis.

“It’s a pity the recession came when it did. A few years would have slowed out the property thing, as it did in a lot of countries, and we would have got out in a more organised way and we wouldn’t have got into the quick dip,” he said in an interview with a Sunday newspaper yesterday.

He also has regrets about the decentralisation plan, announced under his government, which he admits is “never going to happen”.

The plan, to move 10,300 civil servants out of Dublin to 53 locations around the country was “too ambitious”, he said.

Mr Ahern said he feels sorry for his successor, Taoiseach Brian Cowen, because “he hit hard times”.

But he said all leaders face challenges at some point and “lots of difficult times gives you opportunities”.

He added: “As I always say about politics, it’s all about the hard work.”

The former taoiseach turns 60 in September 2011 and intends to run again for a seat in Dublin Central if an election falls before then, but not afterwards.

There has been speculation that he will run for the position of a directly-elected Lord Mayor of Dublin in a vote that is expected to take place later this year. But he confessed the role has “no attraction” for him, describing it as a “non-job”.

“All I ever said about the mayoralty is that I really thought it should have substantive powers. Incidentally, I don’t think it has. If there are no executive powers, what is the point in having it?” he asked.

However, he does not rule out running for the Áras when a presidential election takes place next year.

“It’s too early. It’s an awful long way to the autumn next year.

“I am sure there will be lots of good candidates when we get to this time next year,” he said.