Cowen’s builder-friendly policy may cost FF dearly

FINANCE Minister Brian Cowen angrily asserted on TV recently that “bringing stability to the market” was the Government’s priority and that as soon as he had decided how to do this, we will all be told.

Unsurprisingly, we were told that proposals from competing parties did not acknowledge the complexity of the problem and would not achieve his objective.

He never acknowledged that the present Fianna Fáil stamp duty regime is itself fundamentally faulty.