The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, has warned that the Government will take stringent action to control the price of development land and houses should the market threaten to go out of control again. The spiralling cost of houses to young people was one of the greatest threats to Ireland's economic well-being, he said.
Speaking in Cork at a conference on the environment organised by the Sherkin Island Marine Station, Mr Dempsey said that while there was little prospect of first-time home buyers receiving a grant increase in the forthcoming Budget, at the same time builders must take up the offer under the Serviced Land Initiative under which local authorities will be making available up to 100,000 house sites in an attempt to bring stability to the market. The Government, he added, would monitor the situation closely and take whatever action was necessary.
Mr Dempsey said if continuing speculation and lower interest rates were to undermine the price controls suggested in the Bacon report, the action that might be taken could be quite radical. The steps the Government might take could include action on gazumping, action against builders who speculate on land and action to counteract the dramatic contrast between the prices being paid for houses in Dublin as against the prices in rural Ireland.