Cowen forced into major U-turn?

IN his budget speech last December, Finance Minister Brian Cowen said that “any stamp duty cuts would … end up in the pocket of the seller. This will not help first-time buyers to purchase new homes”.

Three days before the recent general election was called, he said that any cuts in stamp duty would be “irresponsible in the extreme”... “to the benefit of purchasers” and the “exchequer would be the loser”.

This week, however, Mr Cowen has undergone a remarkable change of tune. In the Dáil on Tuesday he derided the very stamp duty regime which he had stoutly defended for many months leading up to the election.