Peter Bacon, former adviser to Bertie Ahern, beat a number of other consultancy firms to win the big contract from the Department of the Environment to examine trends in the housing market, particularly the big surge in Dublin prices. Most of the other big consultancy firms in Dublin were also in for the contract, but Peter Bacon & Associates was chosen. Mr Bacon spent much of his life as a stockbroker, working as an economist with Goodbody Stockbrokers for many years before heading up the firm for a period. He subsequently worked as an adviser to Bertie Ahern, when the latter was Minister for Finance. When the Fianna Fail/Labour coalition fell apart, Mr Bacon moved out on his own and now runs a successful consultancy business.