Many people are sleeping rough and were it not for the Cork Simon Community and St Vincent de Paul many more would be left on our streets. Exorbitant rents for private accommodation and planning regulations are putting many more families on the poverty line.

This country needs entrepreneurs, risk-takers, and investors. Investment in property is the antithesis of all that. There is virtually no risk. Positive investment in property is a ticket to ride paid for, in part, by the taxpayer.