Taoiseach downplays property bubble fears

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has moved to downplay fears a stimulus package for the building sector could create a new property bubble.

Unveiling the €200m initiative with Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, Mr Kenny signalled help was on the way for first-time buyers with a mortgage insurance scheme.

The 75-point programme aims to create 60,000 construction jobs by 2020 by tripling current levels of building to 25,000 units a year. But opposition parties dismissed it an as election ploy “cobbled together” the week before crunch local and European elections.