Mick Clifford: Neale Richmond's on a roll as minister for kite-flying

The junior finance minister's big idea to raise stamp duty to discourage bulk-buying by vulture funds should come with an apology for the long and torturous road that has brought us to this point through his party’s mishandling of housing

Having invited the vultures into the market in the wake of the economic crash, once they started feeding hungrily on a soaraway rental market, Fine Gael failed to act. Picture: Larry Cummins

Neale Richmond is looking for the start as a minister for kite-flying. Currently, the Dublin Rathdown TD is a junior minister, but at the rate he is going he will surely be a shoo-in for a seat at the top table should Fine Gael be returned to government. Once there, perhaps a new portfolio could be created to accommodate his penchant for flying kites full of colour.

Neale’s latest kite required a neck like a jockey’s nether regions to get the damn thing off the ground and onto a media gust of air. At the weekend, he told the Sunday Times his party intends to increase the stamp duty on purchases of 10 or more homes from 10% to 20%.