Cowen defends decision on stamp duty retention

The Taoiseach says he was right not to scrap stamp duty on property sales when the economy was booming.

He was speaking in the Dáil at the opening of statements on recent IMF and OECD reports, which both predict that the Irish economy could shrink by up to 15% next year.

Brian Cowen said if stamp duty was lifted four years for example, the crisis in the economy would actually be worse now.