Stamp duty proposal a boost for speculators

TÁNAISTE Michael McDowell’s proposal either to abolish or reduce stamp duty is ludicrous.

By the basic laws of economics, if the buyer has an extra €10,500 to spend as a result of not having to pay stamp duty on a house costing €350,000, the price will simply increase to €360,500, with the extra money going into the pockets of greedy developers and property speculators.

If, as Mr McDowell suggests, the Government does not need the extra €2.9 billion aised from stamp duty each year, I’m sure that any of our hospitals would be delighted to take some of it off his hands so they could tackle the massive queues at A&E and the general lack of beds.